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

IIOT Communications

IIOT sensor communications issues still need work

NIST’s Nenad Ivezic provides a more detailed view of the progress made in standardizing data communications in the food supply chain—including sensors and IIoT at the farm and industrial levels

Wayne Labs

January 17, 2020

While much of the work involving the standardization of communication in the overall food supply chain is finished, there is still work needing to be done regarding the standardization of IIoT sensor data. I asked Nenad Ivezic, leader of the Process Engineering Group in the Systems Integration Division of the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Engineering Laboratory, to fill us in on the particulars.

Viking Masek saves energy with solar array

Energy savings

Packaging machine company turns toward the sun

Solar power helps Viking Masek save some big bucks

Wayne Labs

January 9, 2020

Solar arrays aren't just for sunny southern climes; they can reduce energy bills up north, too.

Manufacturing News

Solving IoT supply chain communications problems

Wayne Labs

January 6, 2020

Food manufacturers and distributors are beginning to attach IoT sensors to shipping containers to track critical information about the temperature and humidity of the product plus ongoing location and shipper information.

Engineering R&D

Novel plastic formulation decomposes naturally

Wayne Labs

December 19, 2019

A new plastic technology developed by a startup company, Radical Plastics, has created a plastic resin that—depending on composition—can have a “preprogrammed” time to return to basic nonthreatening carbon compounds.

Robotics

Palletizing cobots handle tea, ease workload

Nestlé needed a robust, precise and user-friendly cobotic solution—one that could handle pallet stability.

Wayne Labs

December 17, 2019

Nestlé Suisse SA in Orbe, Switzerland, a facility producing tea in capsules under the well-known brand of Special.T, was in a bind as it looked for a cobotic palletizing solution. Not only was accurate placement of cartons necessary, the robots had to work safely among people.

Pet Food

Expectations for conveniently packaged specialty pet food create challenges

Wayne Labs

December 16, 2019

In this article, we look at how the growth of consumer demands and regulations is modernizing pet food operations.

Pet Food Series

Tomorrow’s pet food plant: What it takes to stay competitive

Plants of the future will rely on automation to produce consistent safe quality pet foods

Wayne Labs

December 13, 2019

What does the modern, competitive pet food plant of the future look like? What are its key design considerations to make it fast, efficient and safe (e.g., product flow, building, internal and external environmental considerations, waste streams, automation, equipment, etc.)?

Manufacturing News

FDA offers help with food defense plans

Wayne Labs

December 13, 2019

For processors that have either put off or need help with building an organized food defense plan, look no further than the FDA’s website.

Automation

Are you and your control systems ready for Windows 10?

Microsoft will drop support of Windows 7 in January 2020

Wayne Labs

December 10, 2019

Windows 7 to 10 upgrades may not be so difficult—so upgrade to stay secure.

Automation

ERP software helps keep bad product from consumers

Today’s cloud-based ERP software can track products in near real time

Wayne Labs

December 2, 2019

ERP software can provide data showing who has the product and what its status is in the supply 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.

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.