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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

Articles

ARTICLES

The State of Food Manufacturing

2016 State of Food Manufacturing shows increased sales, food safety issues

Good news: Sales are up. Bad news: That means more pressure from consumers, and increasing output.

Wayne Labs

October 5, 2016

Food and beverage manufacturers work to satisfy increased consumer demand, while maintaining quality.

Processing and Packaging

Thermal processing equipment is saving energy, product and money

Today's canning equipment is designed to get thermal products just right.

Wayne Labs

September 26, 2016

Pouch-based cooking systems can cook the food right in the bag, sealing in flavor and keeping the product tender.

Tech Update: Machine Controls

How suppliers are creating better machine control systems

Today's machines communicate with rest of your plant equipment.

Wayne Labs

September 20, 2016

When something breaks, chances are the machine can tell you exactly where the problem is and how to fix it.

Engineering R&D

Silver bullet slays bacteria, molds and fungi

Silver ions, impregnated throughout a substrate used in gaskets and seals, come to the surface to be exchanged with ions from microbes, rapidly and continuously inhibiting their growth.

Wayne Labs

August 25, 2016

Gaskets, seals and O-rings are used in the connection of pipes, inline flowmeters and machine inlets and outlets.

Food Safety

Microbiological testing: Verify your inputs as you verify your outputs

Sure, you trust your suppliers. But there’s nothing like some checks before you commit your product to someone else’s raw ingredients.

Wayne Labs

August 22, 2016

While Paul Simon used “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor,” to refer to apartment house rules of courtesy, you might find a parallel to this separate-but-connected concept in the food supply chain.

Preventive & Predictive Maintenance

CMMS: Get your maintenance on track

A computerized maintenance management system helps keep assets running and assists with meeting food safety audit requirements.

Wayne Labs

July 20, 2016

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can help food and beverage facility owners plan and schedule assets and labor to optimize overall plant efficiency and minimize downtime.

Editor's Note

Stay tuned: Exciting changes ahead for Food Engineering!

Debra Schug

Wayne Labs

July 5, 2016

As Food Engineering searches for a new editor-in-chief, this month the editor’s note is under construction, so to speak.

Engineering R&D

Thinking inside--and outside--the box

Drum motors are well suited to food and beverage conveying applications where motors should be out of sight, safe and clean.

Wayne Labs

June 27, 2016

Driving a conveyor head roller with a drum motor, which features a motor and gear box within the roller housing, is not a new concept.

Food Safety

Manage recalls with the tools you already have

Wayne Labs

June 21, 2016

1990: Perrier recalls 160 million bottles of water due to benzene contamination. The brand never recovers its prior status.

Plant Construction Survey

39th Annual Plant Construction Survey: Projects peak as consumer demands grow

Wayne Labs

June 7, 2016

We thought we hit a peak when 2014’s total reportable food and beverage plant construction projects numbered 635. But, the number of construction projects recorded in 2015 is 9.29 percent greater and is the highest number in the last 10 years.

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