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Home » Authors » Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs

Wayne Labs

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.

Senior Contributing Technical Editor
Articles

ARTICLES

A slice of cooked meat on a plate next to vegetables
AI

Get a Leg Up: Let AI-Powered PLM Reveal Secrets You Need to Succeed

Artificial intelligence-powered PLM can make accurate projections about planning new products, introducing them to the market and looking at all the factors a processor might miss in execution.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
January 17, 2025

Artificial intelligence-powered PLM can make accurate projections about planning new products, introducing them to the market and looking at all the factors a processor might miss in execution.


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Plastic water bottles

Phthalates, Packaging Materials and Food Contact: Still a Problem?

While several phthalates have been ruled out of packaging materials, phthalates in food and beverages remain, but are permitted levels safe?
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
January 14, 2025

Over-reacting or not, several consumer groups and clinicians — backed by new data — want phthalates out of the food supply. But is it a doable and practical task?


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Salad on a plate
Quality Control

Quality Control, Safe Food Rely on People and Technology

Quality control of food products goes hand-in-hand with safe foods, yet there have been a number of food safety incidents over the past year.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
December 19, 2024

Food safety and quality are synonymous and need to fit into the same QC program.


Read More
Engineer performing calibration checks
AI

Planning for AI-based Automation Systems

Artificial intelligence, coupled with machine learning, promises to improve plant operations from sensor level to the enterprise, but adoption has been slow with some overzealous starts.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
December 12, 2024

A well-thought-out strategy can maximize the benefit of having the right sensors in the right place with the right controls.


Read More
Manual labor in food processing
Cobots

Cobots at Home on the Plant Floor

Cobots—mobile or stationary—can fit in easily, make your facility more productive and give your employees a new lease on life.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
November 21, 2024

Cobots can work safely among people and relieve them of the drudge work nobody wants to do—like cartoning and palletizing.


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Dairy processing tanks and sensors

Sensor Self-Calibration and Communications Set the Stage for AI-based IIOT

Sensor data is where an automated process begins, and digital communications delivers multiple streams of key process and device data.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
November 12, 2024

With the rushed production schedules at plants, having key process information is not the only data needed, but key device data allows scheduled maintenance.


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Overhead view of a packaging line

Do Your Packaging Machines Speak the Same Language?

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.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
October 21, 2024

While the vocabulary doesn’t have to be large, each machine should know about stops and starts upstream and downstream.


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Two heat pumps
Chilling/Freezing

Upgrade Chilling Equipment to Industrial Heat Pumps

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?
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
October 10, 2024

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?


Read More
Firemen at dry process facility fire

Is Your Facility Safe In Processing Dry Products?

Pay attention to facility layout, airflows and cleaning to protect your employees, facility and product.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
September 25, 2024

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.


Read More
Yokogawa OEE

OEE Plus AI/ML Add Up to a Future of Autonomous Manufacturing

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.
Wayne Labs
Wayne Labs
September 10, 2024

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.


Read More
View All Articles by Wayne Labs
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June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

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.

July 10, 2025

Smarter Innovation With Practical AI: How to Stay Agile in Uncertain Times

Regulatory updates, supply chain shifts and evolving consumer demands keep the food and beverage industry in a state of constant change.

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