Purchasing plans for this year show an overwhelming tendency toward PLCs, according to Food Engineering's 1999 Manufacturing Trends Survey. Thirty-five percent of survey respondents will implement new or supplemental distributed control systems, while 22 percent plan to install statistical process control software to help tighten processing parameters and 29 percent will purchase human machine interface hardware. If you plan similar purchases in the next two years, you will not want to miss Food Engineering's Automation 2000 conference -- a great opportunity to learn the latest trends in automation and what is best for your plant.

For more information about the Food Automation 2000 conference, scheduled for February 13-16 in Atlanta, call 800 358-0746.