Systems and/or methods for the monitoring and/or control of thermal sanitization in automated cleaning machines are described. A cleaning machine controller may predict a number of heat unit equivalents that will be delivered during a cleaning process based on a sump temperature difference (i.e., a change in the temperature of the cleaning solution in the sump) experienced at or near the beginning of the cleaning process. One or more cleaning process parameters may be adjusted and/or controlled based on the sump temperature difference in order to ensure that a target number of heat unit equivalents are delivered in order to achieve thermal sanitization of the wares subjected to the cleaning process.