A Complete Confectionery R and D Laboratory Fit Out: CandyCo, Lindon, Utah
CandyCo needed a working product development laboratory built from an empty room, not a collection of benches. Labs USA supplied and installed the full casework package for its Lindon, Utah facility: painted steel base and wall cabinets, one inch phenolic resin work surfaces, an epoxy resin sink station, and two welded mobile tables.
The Situation
CandyCo develops confectionery products in Lindon, Utah. Product development in food manufacturing is laboratory work in every practical sense. Formulas are weighed to the gram, samples are cooked, cooled and tested, texture and moisture are measured on instruments, and everything that touches a sample has to be washable. What it is not is a chemistry lab, and that distinction drove most of the decisions on this project.
The starting point was an area that needed to be furnished as a laboratory from scratch. That is a better starting point than a retrofit, but it carries its own risk: with nothing already in place, every dimension, every cabinet type and every service location is a decision, and mistakes are not discovered until delivery day. A room laid out on assumptions rather than a drawing produces a bench that blocks a door, a sink that cannot reach a drain, and a corner that ends up unusable.
The work itself set three requirements. First, surfaces had to survive sugar. Hot syrup, food acids, colorants, oils and constant sanitizer wipe down destroy a laminate top from the seams outward, and a failed top in a food development area is a contamination problem, not just a cosmetic one. Second, the room needed real storage volume close to the bench, because formulation work involves many ingredients in many container sizes, plus molds, pans, small tools and instruments. Third, part of the work needed to move. Cooking and cooling trials do not stay in one spot, and equipment gets rolled to where power and hands are available.
There was also a straightforward planning question that came up before the order was released: whether the counters should stay at standard depth or be widened. Deeper counters cost more, both in material and in floor area, and once the casework is set the depth cannot be changed. The customer asked for the deeper option and priced it as an add on before the purchase order was finalized rather than living with a standard depth run they had already doubted.
The Solution
Labs USA specified and supplied a complete casework package in painted steel, finished in banker’s gray, laid out from an approved floor plan that went through several revisions before release. The package covered the perimeter benches, a corner bench, a sink station, overhead storage and two mobile work tables, so the room arrived as one coordinated system rather than as separately sourced pieces.
Two forty seven by forty inch welded tables on roll and stay casters do a job that fixed casework cannot. A welded frame, rather than a bolted one, stays square under repeated rolling and under the point loads that mixers and hot plates apply. Roll and stay casters matter more than they sound: the table moves when it is being repositioned and stays put when someone leans into it, which is the difference between a mobile bench and a hazard. Both tables received forty eight by forty two inch phenolic tops in the same material as the fixed benches, so a trial can move without changing the working surface.
The fixed benches were built from painted steel base cabinets chosen by function rather than from a single repeating unit. Two drawer and two door combination base units in twenty nine, forty one and forty seven inch widths cover general storage. Full width drawer base units, in twenty nine and forty seven inch widths, handle the bulk of ingredient, mold and tool storage where drawers beat doors. A thirty five inch two door sink base unit carries the wet station, and a hinged door corner base unit with an angled counter cut turns the corner into working bench instead of dead space.
Overhead, hinged two door wall units in twenty one, twenty nine, thirty five, forty one and forty seven inch widths, plus a corner wall unit, put enclosed storage above the work surface. Doors rather than open shelves keep dust and airborne sugar off stored stock. A lazy susan was included in the corner base so the deepest part of the run stays reachable.
All work surfaces are one inch thick solid phenolic resin in black with a four inch applied curb, bonded with a matched black epoxy adhesive. The wet station was completed with a twenty five by fifteen by ten inch deep epoxy resin drop in sink with a corner drain, a resin sink outlet with a removable strainer, and a deck mounted mixing faucet with a gooseneck spout, cut into the top at the factory rather than field cut. Filler panels and wall angles close every run to the wall so the finished line is cleanable end to end. The same components run through the Labs USA laboratory casework and laboratory furniture lines, and the mobile tables come from the same family as our laboratory tables.
Features
Advantage
The part of this project that mattered most is the part that happened before anything shipped. The layout was drawn, issued, and revised through several rounds before the order was released, and the final revision is what went into production. In a room being furnished from scratch, that drawing is the only place where a blocked door, an unreachable corner or a sink in the wrong bay can be caught for free.
The counter depth decision is a good example of a review paying for itself. Standard depth was on the original quote. The customer looked at how the benches would actually be used, asked for deeper counters with the additional support brackets that a wider overhang needs, and had that priced as an add on before committing. Changing depth on a drawing is a line item. Changing it after the tops are fabricated is a new set of tops.
Installation was included, and for a room of this size that is not a convenience item. Long continuous runs have to be set to a single level line because the tops span several cabinets at once, and a corner assembly has to be squared before anything is bonded. Installers set and shimmed the casework, bonded the tops and curbs with the supplied epoxy, and coordinated the off loading of a truckload of casework at the customer’s dock. The customer’s own team handled the water and drain connections to the sink after the casework was in place, which is the normal and correct division of work.
The material choice deserves its own note, because food laboratories are often furnished with commercial kitchen or office grade furniture on the theory that no aggressive chemistry is involved. Sugar work is aggressive in a different way. Hot, sticky, acidic and cleaned constantly is exactly the duty cycle that finds every seam. Solid phenolic tops with bonded curbs and painted steel cabinet bodies give a room that can be cleaned hard every day for years, which dry use furniture cannot.
Benefits
- A complete laboratory delivered as one coordinated package instead of separately sourced furniture
- Work surfaces that tolerate hot syrup, food acids, colorants, oils and daily sanitizer
- Storage volume built in on day one, in drawers and enclosed wall cabinets, not added later as carts
- The corner of the room converted into working bench and reachable storage
- Two mobile welded tables so trials can move without leaving the specified work surface
- Professional installation, with the casework set and bonded as continuous lines
- Counter depth confirmed and priced before fabrication rather than discovered afterwards
The wet station was specified as a unit: sink base cabinet, epoxy resin drop in bowl with a corner drain, resin outlet with a removable strainer, gooseneck mixing faucet, and the sink and service hole cut at the factory so the top was never field drilled.
Return on Investment
The first return is the life of the work surface. A laminate or wood core top in a sugar development lab is a consumable, typically failing at the seams and the sink cutout within a few years. Solid phenolic resin is chemically resistant through its thickness, so a scratch or a chip is cosmetic instead of the start of delamination. Replacing tops in an operating lab is not just material cost, it is clearing instruments off a live bench and losing the station for days.
The second is floor space converted into function. Every drawer bank, wall cabinet, corner unit and lazy susan in this layout is storage that does not sit on the floor. A room furnished with benches alone accumulates racks, bins and carts until the aisle is the storage area, and lost aisle width is the most expensive square footage in any laboratory.
The third is avoided change orders. Several drawing revisions and a pre order decision on counter depth are cheap in comparison to fabricating the wrong tops. The add on for the deeper counters and support brackets was quoted and accepted before release, so the customer approved a known number instead of absorbing a surprise.
The fourth is serviceability. Cabinets, tops, sink, strainer and faucet are individually replaceable items on a standard product line, so a damaged drawer front or a worn faucet is a part, not a project. Twenty years on, the room can still be maintained piece by piece.
Project Process
Understand the work
Review what is formulated, cooked, tested and cleaned, and what the surfaces have to survive.
Draw the room
Lay out benches, sink, corner and mobile tables on a floor plan and issue it for review.
Revise before release
Work through revisions, including the deeper counter option and the extra support brackets.
Confirm the order
Price the approved configuration, including the counter add on, before production is released.
Fabricate and ship
Build the casework, cut the sink and service holes at the factory, and coordinate the delivery.
Install and hand over
Set and level the runs, bond tops and curbs, and leave the sink ready for the plumbing tie in.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why use laboratory casework instead of commercial kitchen furniture in a food R and D lab?
Because the duty cycle is laboratory duty. Formulation work combines hot product, food acids, oils, colorants and constant sanitizing, and it also needs instrument space and dense small item storage. Laboratory casework with solid phenolic resin tops is chemically resistant through the full thickness of the surface and is designed around drawers, wall cabinets and bonded, cleanable seams.
What countertop material suits sugar and food acid exposure?
One inch solid phenolic resin is a strong general answer for food development work. It tolerates heat within reason, resists food acids, oils and sanitizers, and because the material is solid rather than a laminate over a core, damage stays cosmetic instead of starting a delamination at the seam. Epoxy resin is the alternative where higher heat or more aggressive chemistry is involved.
Do the counters have to be a standard depth?
No. Deeper counters can be specified, and this project used that option, but they need additional support brackets to carry the extra overhang and they consume floor area. The right time to decide is during drawing review, because depth cannot be changed after the tops are fabricated.
Why include mobile tables in a room that already has fixed benches?
Because some work moves. Cooking and cooling trials, portable equipment and temporary setups are easier on a welded table with roll and stay casters that can be positioned where power and people are, then locked in place. Using the same top material as the fixed benches means the working surface does not change when the work moves.
Is installation necessary or can the facility set the casework?
A single cabinet can be set by anyone. Long continuous runs and corner assemblies are different, because the tops span several cabinets and have to sit on one level line, and the curbs and tops are epoxy bonded in place. On this project installation was included, and the customer’s own team completed the water and drain connections afterwards.
How long does a full laboratory casework package take?
Built to order painted steel casework with phenolic tops typically quotes at around eight to ten weeks after drawings are approved, and drawing review itself usually takes a few rounds. The schedule should be set from the approval date, not the inquiry date.
Furnishing a food or product development laboratory?
Labs USA lays out, supplies and installs complete laboratory casework packages, chemical resistant work surfaces, sink stations and mobile tables for food, supplement and research laboratories. Send us a room and we will draw it before anything is built.
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