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.

Supply chain solutions

Bayer finds supply chain system to aid in seed traceability

Kezzler, a global supply chain traceability provider, will make it possible to trace seeds back to the farm

Wayne Labs

October 1, 2020

Kezzler, a global provider of supply chain traceability and serialization technology, has signed a master service agreement (MSA) with Bayer to provide track and trace capabilities for seed origins. Bayer—a life sciences company with more than 150 years experience in healthcare and agriculture—and Kezzler have had an existing working relationship for the last four years.

Ransomware is big business—and you can’t afford to play the game!

A cyberattack not only creates costly downtime but also can destroy IP, cause food safety issues and just be plain expensive—whether or not you pay the ransom

Wayne Labs

September 24, 2020

Ransomware could cost your food or beverage company millions.

Manufacturing News

Some decaf coffees face contaminant and label issues

Clean Label Project wants some coffee brands to disclose use of methylene chloride

Wayne Labs

September 18, 2020

The Clean Label Project pushes for the use of decaffeination processes using carbon dioxide or the Swiss water process.

Engineering R&D

Are you backing up ransomware with your data?

New tool spots sleeper ransomware so it doesn’t get backed up with your data, only to attack later

Wayne Labs

September 16, 2020

Fighting sleeper ransomware demands new preemptive tools beyond the usual AI and machine learning functionalities.

Industry News

Food Engineering exclusive: Gray acquires Anderson Dahlen

Purchase of equipment manufacturer expands Gray’s array of products and services

Wayne Labs

September 14, 2020

Gray, a global leader in engineering, design, construction, and automation, has purchased Anderson Dahlen, a major manufacturer and fabricator of specialty and stainless steel equipment for the food and beverage, pharma, and vacuum technology industries.

Brandon Ellis, owner and president of elliTek at his shop

Securing OT/IT networks

Keeping machines, OT networks and IT safe from cyberattacks

Sometimes all you need is a knowledgeable system integrator or machine builder who’s “been there—done that,” when it comes to securing networks from cyberattacks

Wayne Labs

September 11, 2020

Even when you think you've taken all precautions on cybersecurity, there's always a "gotcha."

Cybersecurity and OT

Industrial control systems risk shutdowns and other dangerous outcomes due to cybersecurity attacks

No doubt a ransomware or malware attack can shut down enterprise business systems, but cybersecurity attacks can do a lot more damage on manufacturing systems

Wayne Labs

August 31, 2020

Of late, several companies have taken hits on their worldwide IT and Web based systems. Perhaps the most recent, Canon, suffered a global ransomware attack, taking down many Canon websites and systems - also with a threat of making their private business data public. But can these IT/enterprise attacks threaten and/or damage OT systems? And what can they do to food and beverage products? Make them unsafe by altering a critical kill step or omitting preservatives? What else? I asked Barak Pereleman, VP of OT Security at Tenable, what attack vectors may pose danger to OT-based systems.

Tech Update

How robots help processors navigate the COVID-19 pandemic

Whether team members are out sick with coronavirus or your plant needs some help with social distancing, robots can pick up the slack

Wayne Labs

August 21, 2020

Robots and cobots can help when your food or beverage has workers out sick with COVID-19 or needs to implement social distancing.

Engineering R&D

New desiccant technology uses ceramic material

Loose beads are no longer required for compressed air systems

Wayne Labs

August 14, 2020

Atlas Copco has recently come up with a more durable and effective ceramic desiccant material called Cerades.

Manufacturing News

Two beverage giants choose cloud partners

Long-term cloud technology contracts pair PepsiCo with Microsoft and Keurig Dr Pepper with Google Cloud

Wayne Labs

August 11, 2020

PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper have signed long-term cloud contracts with Microsoft and Google Cloud respectively to improve their data operations and have a more agile IT infrastructure.