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

Adents, Microsoft collaborate on blockchain fraud detection system

Originally designed for the pharmaceutical industry where fraudulent copies of drugs are common, software developers are aiming at other high-value industries.

Wayne Labs

June 14, 2018

Adents, a serialization and track-and-trace solutions provider, has developed a new unit-level product track-and-trace platform using Blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Industrial Internet of Things

SAP, Endress+Hauser pursue joint process solutions through IIoT

An open platform for the process industry ties data seamlessly to business operations

Wayne Labs

June 12, 2018

ERP solutions provider SAP and process industry solutions provider Endress+Hauser are intensifying their joint efforts in integrating field instruments and ERP analytics through IIoT-based applications for the process industry.

Manufacturing News

Report says USDA, FDA research and rules still need work

Studies of pathogen standards, arsenic risk show flaws in processes

Wayne Labs

June 9, 2018

Two recent studies show there is work to be done to make USDA and FDA research and rules more definitive, conclusive and final.

Plant Construction Survey

2018 Plant Construction Survey: Rising Rate of Food & Beverage Plant Renovations/Expansions

Many food & beverage processors are renovating/expanding their existing plants to meet FSMA and consumer demands.

Wayne Labs

June 8, 2018

Food Engineering's 41st annual Plant Construction Survey reveals that the ratio of the number of plant renovations and expansions versus new, greenfield projects has again risen from last year, indicating several owners and operators are trying to stay put.

Cold Chain

Internet protocols make the refrigerated supply chain more efficient

Initiative aims to move refrigerated foods through the supply chain more efficiently to reduce spoilage

Wayne Labs

June 6, 2018

Just as the Internet makes use of hardware to relay data via the best routes regardless of who owns the hardware, a new “Physical Internet” for the Cold Chain (aka Cold PI) initiative is being developed by Tippmann Innovation (Ti) and Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and the Physical Internet Center.

Walmart, IBM and the Romaine Blockchain

What food processors and the entire supply chain should be doing to make our food safe

Wayne Labs

June 1, 2018

Food Engineering features some thoughts on the recent Romaine lettuce contamination by Aaron Cohen, co-founder of CoInspect and adjunct professor at New York University where he teaches the History of Internet Media. FE conducted an exclusive, one-on-one interview with Cohen, immediately following Cohen’s text.

Engineering R&D

Voltage tester offers proof that power is really off

Satisfying NFPA 70E, this built-in absence-of-voltage tester confirms the power is off before the technician opens the cabinet door.

Wayne Labs

May 31, 2018

Seeing the need for a safe way to verify the absence of voltage in equipment, Panduit business development manager Rachul Bulgaris invented the VeriSafe AVT.

Automation Series

Integrating process control and building automation systems

If your systems communicate with each other, you may save money on energy, improve quality and enhance food safety.

Wayne Labs

May 21, 2018

You don’t want to be fighting your plant’s operating environment. You want it under control—not only for maintaining product quality and consistency, but also food safety.