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Keeping equipment running around the clock and a shortage of skilled maintenance people put the squeeze on processors.

Be it ever so humble, overall equipment efficiency is the focus of a growing number of plant automation projects, adding another component to the continuous improvement tool kit.

Hormel’s Progressive Processing plant is built for the long haul. A quarter century had passed since Hormel Foods had commissioned a new production facility. In designing its Dubuque plant, engineers aimed to create a facility that would be contemporary for the next 25 years.

Teaching packaging machines to communicate. Thanks to open standards, packaging machine controls communicate up and down the line and with MES and ERP systems to provide key performance data.

Staff expansions and production efficiencies are bright spots in an industry feeling the effects of economic forces beyond its control.

Altering processes and procedures requires human involvement, but that doesn’t preclude technical support for continuous improvement efforts.

Speed always is a priority in packaging operations, but market realities are elevating other considerations for food and beverage professionals.

Faster fill times are nice, but a host of other considerations also are part of manufacturers’ value calculations. Those needs are evident in the systems being developed.

Food Engineering readers provide insight into how their companies are recalibrating inventory needs to meet production demands.

Projects surge slightly as processors find value to be gained in upgrading existing facilities.