In high-purity industries like biotech, pharma, and food processing, a weld isn’t just a structural feature—it’s a potential risk point.

So what exactly makes a weld sanitary? The short answer: it’s not just about appearance—it’s about minimizing contamination risk.

Let’s break it down.

The Core Principle: A Sanitary Weld Is One That’s Easy to Clean

Whether you’re manufacturing vaccines or microbrews, every surface your product touches needs to be cleanable to a microbial level. That means your welds must:

• Be smooth and free from pits or crevices
• Have no inclusions or voids where bacteria can hide
• Maintain full penetration and structural integrity
• Match or exceed the surface finish (Ra value) of the surrounding tubing

If your weld doesn’t support CIP or SIP protocols effectively, it puts your whole process at risk.

Types of Welds in High-Purity Process Systems

There are two primary weld types used in high-purity stainless steel piping:

1. Manual GTAW (TIG) Welding
   1. Highly skilled process
   2. Common for complex geometries or one-off builds
   3. Requires rigorous inspection and polishing
2. Orbital Welding
   1. Programmable, repeatable, and automated
   2. Delivers consistent results with controlled parameters
   3. Ideal for high-volume, validated systems

At Holland, we use both methods depending on your application—but every weld we make is held to sanitary standards.

Surface Finish: The Ra Reality

You’ll often hear specs like “20 Ra max” thrown around. Ra refers to the roughness average, or how smooth a surface is at the microscopic level.

• A mechanical polish can bring surfaces down to 20 Ra or lower
• An electropolished finish goes even further—removing surface impurities and reducing Ra to the 10-15 range
• But even if your tubing meets the Ra spec, a rough weld can ruin it

That’s why we match weld finish to tube finish. No exceptions.

Inspection Matters

A weld may look good to the naked eye—but that doesn’t mean it’s clean or consistent. We use:

• Borescope inspections
• X-ray or dye penetrant testing
• Surface roughness gauges
• Plus full documentation and traceability for regulated industries

Every weld is verified. Every weld is clean. Every weld is repeatable.

Bottom Line: A Sanitary Weld Is One That Works—And Lasts

It’s not just about passing inspection on Day 1. It’s about:

• Standing up to hundreds of CIP cycles
• Withstanding pressure, heat, and flow stress
• Eliminating risk of product loss or contamination
• Supporting your validation and audit requirements

At Holland Applied Technologies, our welders and orbital systems are trained and certified for ASME BPE, cGMP, and 3-A requirements—so your process isn’t just clean, it’s compliant.

Need Help Evaluating Your Weld Standards?

If you’re scaling a new bioprocess system, expanding a clean utility line, or troubleshooting existing weld issues, our team can help.

Let’s talk about how to make sure every inch of your stainless system is up to spec.

Chat with the Holland team today.