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.

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.

Industry News

Campbell Soup Company looks to new CEO to improve business

Campbell Soup has struggled through a three-year sales slump and is looking to new leadership to turn the business around.

Wayne Labs

May 18, 2018

Campbell Soup Company has announced the retirement of Denise M. Morrison, president, CEO and director.

Food Safety

The importance of preventive controls

Preventive controls are a must for processors to meet safety goals

Wayne Labs

April 22, 2018

The idea of preventive controls is not process-centric, but risk based. And its principles are not new concepts.

Engineering R&D

Optoelectronic nose can offer new options for checking quality

Based on a handheld reader for colorimetric sensor arrays, the optoelectronic nose can monitor meat freshness or detect fraudulent whiskeys

Wayne Labs

April 16, 2018

Two University of Illinois professors have devised and published methods to monitor the freshness of meat and to identify liquors

Information Security

Beefing up on industrial computer security and password protection

Industrial automation systems are becoming secure-by-design, but weak passwords can wreak havoc with the best-designed systems

Wayne Labs

April 6, 2018

A newly published standard specifies process requirements for the secure development of products used in industrial automation and control systems (IACS).

High-Pressure Processing

Cold Pressure Council offers updated guidelines for HPP

Cold Pressure Council’s “HPP Certified” seal indicates freshness and a food-safe, clean-label product

Wayne Labs

March 27, 2018

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.

Engineering R&D

Rubber Fab develops technology to spot rubber with x-rays

Sanitary gaskets and seals have typically been invisible to X-ray detection systems, but a new range of functional materials makes them opaque

Wayne Labs

March 25, 2018

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.

Food Safety

How to upgrade your plant to meet food safety standards

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

Wayne Labs

March 18, 2018

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.

Innovation

Is the last mile the last challenge for retailers?

Many retailers know that a quick and speedy delivery is key to finding new business and holding onto it

Wayne Labs

March 15, 2018

Companies like Target and Amazon realize the importance of quick, same-day delivery when it comes to food and beverage products.

Food Safety

GAO releases report on FDA/FSMA progress

Report calls for performance measures, timeline for long-term food safety activities

Wayne Labs

March 9, 2018

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).

Join Lynn Dornblaser, Client Advisor at Mintel, and Alyse Thompson-Richards, Editor-in-Chief of FOOD ENGINEERING, as they break down the 2026 Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies and discuss the factors affecting this year’s rankings.