Walk the floors of any modern food or beverage production area, and there’s a fair chance no other human beings will be encountered. Hairnets and hard hats still are present in the packaging area, but their numbers are dwindling.
Compared to a generation ago, today’s facilities are models of efficiency, incorporating automation wherever feasible and shifting personnel to value-added tasks. Rather than rest on their laurels, manufacturing teams use Six Sigma, TQM, lean and other continuous improvement frameworks to squeeze out more costs and build greater efficiency.