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TECH FLASH

Nestlé names Rockwell procurement supplier of the year

Rockwell was honored with the award for its ability to develop innovative solutions and support new factory lines.

Jeremy Gerrard

August 25, 2015

The Supplier Relationship Program strengthens and develops relationships between Nestlé USA and its key suppliers.

Tech Update

Optical Inspection: A finer line of separation

Vision technology improves product quality and manufacturing efficiency in multiple areas of the processing plant.

Debra Schug

August 25, 2015

In the face of coming regulations, as well as forecasts calling for increases in food production and decreases in food waste, the task at hand for food and beverage processors appears to be a monumental one.

TECH FLASH

GE to launch first cloud service for industrial data

While there are plenty of data centers for consumer data, GE is deploying the first industrial-strength cloud service specifically for machine data.

Jeremy Gerrard

August 12, 2015

GE built the new Predix Cloud using its Predix software.

Manufacturing News

Bridging the IT/OT skills gap

August 12, 2015

For some time, industrial manufacturing companies have been looking for ways to bring together the seemingly divergent needs of enterprise networking systems and the real-time requirements of plant floor communications systems.

TECH FLASH

Rockwell, Cisco launch new architectures to reduce security risks

Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE) architectures help operations technology (OT) and information technology (IT) professionals address changing security practices.

Jeremy Gerrard

July 28, 2015

The new designs offer ways for OT and IT to deploy a converged plant-wide Ethernet.

TECH FLASH

What’s new at PACK EXPO Las Vegas

PMMI provides a sneak peek at the latest food processing and packaging technologies.

July 28, 2015

Features found at the show this September include the Brand Zone, Processing Zone and Reusable Packaging Pavilion.

Preventive & Predictive Maintenance

The future looks smarter

Whatever maintenance program you follow, an intelligent data gathering system plus a CMMS can decrease parts expenditures and increase uptime.

Wayne Labs

July 22, 2015

If run to failure is no longer an option, food and beverage processors have alternative ways to keep their equipment running at peak performance levels; they can plan maintenance schedules based on OEM suggestions.

Food Automation and Manufacturing Conference 2015

Rising to the challenges

Presenters at FA&M stressed innovation and flexibility as key strategies for processors to obtain operational excellence.

Debra Schug

June 26, 2015

The week after Food Engineering’s Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference and Expo, Kraft announced the iconic bright orange color of its Macaroni & Cheese sauce will be discontinued.

Plant Construction Survey

38th Annual Plant Construction Survey: Fast track project delivery

There’s more money available, but it’s already earmarked for automation, sanitation, operational efficiency, utilities—and sometimes a new facility.

Wayne Labs

June 11, 2015

No question about it, the numbers of reportable food and beverage projects in 2014 hit a nine-year high—a total of 635 compared to 555 in 2013, according to Food Engineering’s 38th Annual Plant Construction Survey.

TECH FLASH

Four-to-one combiner saves space, money

For a packaged snack food manufacturer, a multi-lane tabletop conveyor system using four-to-one merge for cartons was the right solution.

Jeremy Gerrard

May 26, 2015

Four lanes of pneumatically actuated clamping devices and blade stops control the traffic of four rows of product and merge them to one lane for delivery to a palletizing system.

On Demand Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.