Articles by Wayne Labs

Willy Shih, Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration at the Harvard Business School

COVID-19 and the supply chain

COVID-19’s effect on the supply chain could have been lessened

Loftware’s interview with Harvard Business School Professor Willi Shih points out weak links in the supply chain—weak links that should have been seen sooner

Wayne Labs

June 4, 2020

Loftware President and CEO Robert O’Connor spoke with Harvard Business School Professor Willi Shih in a live on-line Webinar entitled “COVID-19, Labeling, and Supply Chain Continuity,” to look at some lessons learned in the supply chain during the COVID-19 outbreak, which, of course, isn’t over yet.

Plant Construction Survey

Food Engineering’s 43rd Annual Plant Construction Survey

COVID-19 overshadows project planning and construction while decreasing already short labor supplies

Wayne Labs

June 3, 2020

Construction remains steady in the food and beverage industry, but the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are not yet known.

FE 2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey

2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey: Part 2

The quest for the ideal food manufacturing site

Architectural and engineering design/build firms explain the site-related, key issues facing processors as they plan to renovate or build a new facility

Wayne Labs

June 3, 2020

While we've looked at the key issues - including COVID-19 - facing food processors and A&E/Cs this year in FE's 2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey, there's a lot more to discuss.

2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey: Part 3

FSMA: Getting to the security aspects of food

You’d think FSMA is a done-deal, but not so much for food defense and intentional adulteration, which still need attention in facility design

Wayne Labs

June 3, 2020

While we've looked at the key issues - including COVID-19 - facing food processors and A&E/Cs this year in FE's 2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey, there's a lot more to discuss.

2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey: Part 4

Plan a total, plant-wide automation system to improve facility performance and agility

Integrating all the systems on a line is important, but why stop there? Why not include HVAC, refrigeration, boilers, energy management, etc. to get total control?

Wayne Labs

June 3, 2020

While we've looked at the key issues - including COVID-19 - facing food processors and A&E/Cs this year in FE's 2020 Annual Plant Construction Survey, there's a lot more to discuss.

The Allpax automated retort system featuring shuttle car transport and rigid chain loader/unloader, shown here, removes workers from the laborious and injury prone activity of pushing heavy baskets, top right, to and from and into and out of a retort.

Retort design improvements

Retort loading/unloading system removes the push-pull chain drive

A real engineering improvement, Allpax’s new design is simpler, requires fewer periodic adjustments and reduces parts wear

Wayne Labs

May 21, 2020

Real engineering improvements make things simpler to operate and maintain

2020 PLEX State of Manufacturing Technology Report

Manufacturing News

Study reveals manufacturers face new competition as biggest growth obstacle in 2020

But when it comes to adopting new technologies, food and beverage manufacturers are out in front of other industrial categories

Wayne Labs

May 19, 2020

The results are in for PLEX’s State of Manufacturing Report 2020, and they show the food and beverage industry is in many ways out in front of other industries in terms of adopting new technologies to maximize efficiency, competitiveness and profits.

Manufacturing News

Beer choices abound: Great for consumers but tough on large brewers

New technologies like AI and IIoT sensors plus horizontal distribution will give craft and microbreweries an edge over megalithic breweries

Wayne Labs

May 19, 2020

The brewery industry has been in a state of change, and craft and microbreweries are ready to adopt technology to give large, institutional brewers a run for their money, says a new study

Protecting against physical violence

Wayne Labs

May 11, 2020

While we can't pretend to cover in one article what an entire publication devoted to security does, we will look at some key pointers in keeping employees safer in the workplace.

Engineering R&D

Omnichain's predictive analytics inform decisions

Wayne Labs

May 8, 2020

Though relatively new, blockchain distributed ledger technology (DLT) applied in food and beverage can speed up tracebacks from days to seconds. One innovator—Pratik Soni, founder and CEO of Omnichain—is already taking blockchain technologies to the next level.

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

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.