"Faster, cheaper, standardized" might best summarize the prevailing wish list for plant spare parts, based on written comments from industry professionals in Food Engineering's 2006 Replacement Parts and Components Trends Survey. The fourth annual study of food and beverage personnel involved in spare parts ordering posed the open-ended question, "What actions could OEMs take to make you a more satisfied customer?" Predictably, lower prices were the most frequently mentioned way to buyers' hearts, though rock-bottom pricing isn't what they have in mind.
The old real estate mantra rings hollow in food and beverage plant site selection. Choosing a plant location involves much more-access to markets, transportation infrastructure, water and sewer, and available workforce. It's about energy, what you've got and what you need, and who's making the best offers. Yes, offers. Incentives-which can be in the form of deals on taxes, utilities, training, capital and more-have been known to put many locations on the map.
The connection between food companies and NASCAR usually only goes as deep as a decal on a car. A notable exception a few years ago was General Mills Inc.'s work with a Winston Cup pit crew to help improve line changeovers. The Minneapolis-based food company sent a team to work with a pit crew to gain insights into how they might improve changeover performance in their own plants.
Creativity and brainstorming are synonymous with innovation in many people's minds. Engineers and manufacturing professionals have a different view: innovation is linked with risk, and minimizing the effects of risk is the key to successful innovation.
As a born and bred Philly girl, I watched in wonder as the world media picked up the story of the South Philadelphia cheese steak landmark with the little tiny sign in its window demanding that all patrons place their orders in English. After all, this is America, right? Not really, it's South Philly where people are earthy, honest and anything goes.
The K-Tron PCS P-Series vacuum conveyors were re-certified for 2006 by the 3A Symbol Council to meet requirements of the 3-A Sanitary Standard for Pneumatic Conveyors for Dry Milk and Milk Products.
Material Transfer's Material Master Powerfill bulk bag filler with check scale and powered roller conveyor is a hazardous location system. The bag-support carriage and fill head lower to a programmed operator height, then rotate for reach-free bag connection.
LEWCO's independent drive accumulation chain conveyor is 25 ft. long. Each drive zone is 43 in. long and can contain a parts bin that holds up to 2,000 lbs. of parts.
With more than 3,000 different combinations of belt styles, components and materials, Intralox has products that meet the needs of the fruit and vegetable industry.
Bush Brothers & Co. is investing $38 million to expand its Chestnut Hill, TN, operation. The processing capacity of the current 200,000-sq.-ft. facility will be doubled and include a building addition of 40,000 sq. ft. for a new sterilizing system.
California and several other states that have mandated strict food product labeling requirements are taking their fight against federal uniform standards to the US Senate. The House of Representatives approved legislation in March to set one national standard, so food manufacturers don't have to adopt different packaging for products sold in different states.
The restaurant industry says it is being singling out in the debate over obesity in a new FDA report that focuses on food consumed away from home as a key element of the problem. The report recommends that restaurants reduce portion sizes and provide consumers with more information about calories.
A positive displacement, general utility pump, the Moyno 600 Series progressing cavity pump, handles a range of applications from clean, clear liquids to viscous, abrasive fluids.
PIAB's C-Series of vacuum conveyors are powered by pneumatically driven vacuum pumps, allowing the units to safely and quietly transport up to 15 tons per hour of powders and granules.
This disperser from Charles Ross and Son is designed to mix and blend high-viscosity, non-flowing materials that are typically too viscous for high-speed dispersers.
Slideways' support structures and guides for plastic belts, which can be configured into new and existing FDA/USDA-compliant conveyors systems and process equipment, are made from UHMW or HT-UHMW to create a low-friction and high-wear, water-resistant surface.
Featuring intermittent processing with the precision of servo-controlled carton pick-up and erecting, the C2155 cartoner from Uhlmann, offers visual instructions via a touchscreen monitor.
Machined from 314 stainless steel, Cesco Magnetics' series of aseptic, magnetic liquid line traps is for 1 1⁄2-in. to 4-in. aseptic processing lines operating at up to 200 psi and temperatures of 150
Wanner Engineering's C80 Series airbleed priming valves automatically open to allow F/G-20 through D/G-12 Series Hydra Cell pumps to self-prime by quickly relieving the system of trapped vapors or air rather than compressing the gas and causing pump airlock.
A line of small, square and rectangular inductive proximity and position sensors for tight-spaced robotics, conveyor and material handling applications range in size from 4-mm square to 20-mm rectangular.
Featuring a design that boosts belt strength and service life, the Omni-Pro 120 heavy-duty conveyor belt offers protective links combined with stainless steel rods to create a spiral and turn-curve belt that can convey up to 400 lbs.
FLEXCO's belt cutters provide square cuts for belts with thicknesses up to 1 in. Both the 840 Series belt cutter and the Clipper 845LD belt cutter offer safety design features that protect users and prevent accidents during and after cutting.
Flush-bottom Fluid Flow sanitary ball valves eliminate dead space by being welded flush with the bottom of a vessel, says Fluid Transfer, the manufacturer.
Designed for use in ultra-hygienic industries that follow European Engineering and Design Group Guidelines (EHEDG), such as dairy, food and brewery processes, Alfa Laval's tank cleaning machine is suitable for use in fermentation, mixing, processing and storage tanks and vessels from 15 to 150m3.
E Instruments' Irtec P2000 portable infrared thermometer for temperature-related applications provides laser pinpointing to identify the center of a measuring area from a distance.