Kevin T. Higgins

Declining costs, faster speeds and advances in vision-guided systems are helping plant engineers justify the cost of robotics.

The DuPont Awards Competition for innovative plastic packaging set a precedent two years ago when two entries were deemed worthy of the top award. Judges in the competition's recent 17th edition went one better, bestowing Diamond Awards on three entries, including two food packages.

Possible changes in GMPs are just background noise for food professionals focused on manufacturing.

Instead of upsizing a lab-scale machine, equipment engineers sometimes must contend with downsizing issues.

A natural disaster knocked Cooper Farms out of the further-processing business, but the turkey firm has come back swinging.

Machine control often involves a Tower of Babel of programming languages, but suppliers are responding to manufacturers' demands for a common look and feel.

A Pennsylvania inventor developed an unorthodox shape for pneumatic conveying systems to reduce clogging and product damage while saving space.

Distinguishing between core competencies and essential skills that can be outsourced can be a back-and-forth dilemma for food manufacturers.

While the Internet and automation systems are becoming bigger factors in parts ordering, maintenance managers still struggle with age-old challenges.

By better focusing microwave energy and reducing signal attenuation that results in uneven heating, engineers hope to make continuous-flow microwave processing commercially viable.