Wayne Labs has more than 30 years of editorial experience in industrial automation. He served as senior technical editor for I&CS/Control Solutions magazine for 18 years where he covered software, control system hardware and sensors/transmitters. Labs ran his own consulting business and contributed feature articles to Electronic Design, Control, Control Design, Industrial Networking and Food Engineering magazines. Before joining Food Engineering, he served as a senior technical editor for Omega Engineering Inc. Labs also worked in wireless systems and served as a field engineer for GE’s Mobile Communications Division and as a systems engineer for Bucks County Emergency Services. In addition to writing technical feature articles, Wayne covers FE’s Engineering R&D section.
PackML transforms the concept of individual machines in a packaging line to a single unified machine with component parts for packaging, making line changes and maintenance faster and easier.
Industrial heat pumps provide chilling and freezing, and reclaim the heat energy lost in chilling to save money on heating water for cooking and cleaning—but is retrofitting possible?
Industrial heat pumps provide chilling and freezing, and reclaim the heat energy lost in chilling to save money on heating water for cooking and cleaning—but is retrofitting possible?
Unlike wet ingredients, the handling of dry powder ingredients and products usually requires specifically designed process areas to prevent dangerous situations that could result in worker injuries or death.
Over the years, data acquisition systems and sensor technology have made it easier to track and improve OEE scores — now AI and ML can find nuances in data to up performance.
While you can measure and chart OEE manually, today’s AI and ML-based technologies with smart sensors can help processors find the little things that can improve availability, performance and quality — leading to autonomous manufacturing.
AI looks to be a panacea for making better inspection choices, but knowing specifically what the inspection criteria should be needs to be in place before employing an AI-based system.
AI looks to be a panacea for making better inspection choices, but knowing specifically what the inspection criteria should be needs to be in place before employing an AI-based system.
Ahmik Hindman, senior networks and security consultant at Rockwell Automation, recently spoke about how food manufacturers can assess cybersecurity risks, implement security patches and build a cybersecurity risk management system.
Even though new processing and packaging equipment today has maintenance tools built in, proper planning and integration into an enterprise maintenance management system makes repair activities easier to track and helps prevent a stockroom full of expensive parts that are never needed.
AI, machine learning and robotics not only improve product flow, but also can attract young talent that’s grown up with computers and easily adapts to new technologies.
The ubiquitous milk and juice carton—lined with polymers and often aluminum—can be upcycled into new and useful products ranging from building materials to shoes and furniture.