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.
A newly published standard specifies process requirements for the secure development of products used in industrial automation and control systems (IACS).
Since June of last year, the Cold Pressure Council (CPC) has been busy with finalizing its organizational structure, and is moving on to provide guidelines for the application of HPP to additional food types.
Rubber Fab has solved another perennial problem—how to detect rubber seal and gasket foreign matter in food using X-ray systems, as X-rays just don’t generally see rubber or fluoropolymer sealing materials.
If your plant is more than 30 years old, chances are it needs some work if it’s to meet current regulations and pass muster with food safety and customer audits
Just like an older home, an aging food plant can have its share of problems. If your roof leaks, or there’s a hole in the wall in which cold air and critters could come through—or your front door loses all its weather stripping—you’d be on it in no time. These situations are even more problematic for an older food and beverage facility, especially where food safety is concerned.
With FSMA now the law of the land and the FDA budgeting $1 billion annually for food safety and nutrition, the agency needs to take several steps to meet food safety and nutrition objectives, says a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Whether a line stoppage at a plant is catastrophic or simply a waste of time, money and resources, everyone agrees that it would be better to know when the drive, motor, gearbox or substation will fail.
China has been a leader in mass production—with lots of manual labor— but coming shortages in China’s working-age population have experts concerned. In the past, labor was plentiful, and automation was not seen as a necessity.
PVDF is not new to the food and beverage industry; it’s been a material of choice for flow tubing, pumps and piping, flowmeters and nozzles for spray washing—anywhere harsh chemicals or beverages are concerned.
IBM has been working with food processors, retailers and supply chain stakeholders to improve traceback response times using open-source Blockchain technology.