Innovation | Food Engineering

Viking Masek saves energy with solar array

Energy savings

Packaging machine company turns toward the sun

Solar power helps Viking Masek save some big bucks

Wayne Labs

January 9, 2020

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Solar arrays aren't just for sunny southern climes; they can reduce energy bills up north, too.

Pet Food Series

Tomorrow’s pet food plant: What it takes to stay competitive

Plants of the future will rely on automation to produce consistent safe quality pet foods

Wayne Labs

December 13, 2019

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What does the modern, competitive pet food plant of the future look like? What are its key design considerations to make it fast, efficient and safe (e.g., product flow, building, internal and external environmental considerations, waste streams, automation, equipment, etc.)?

Editor's Note

Identifying and documenting workarounds for process challenges can help prevent failures

Casey Laughman

December 13, 2019

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Whether it’s water efficiency, packaging, food safety, material flow or anything else you can think of, there is always a point in the process that creates challenges, and that point is usually a headache for processors of any size.

Fab Food Plants

How Prestage Foods of Iowa built a state-of-the-art pork processing plant

Sharon Spielman

December 9, 2019

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Producing more than 1.4 billion pounds of pork and turkey annually, the Prestage Farms family of companies employs more than 2,700 associates and is affiliated with more than 470 farm families across the U.S.

Innovation

White paper: The evolution of the drum motor

Drum motors have seen numerous design improvements over the decades

Alexander Kanaris

December 2, 2019

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The drum motor belt drive design entered the conveyor industry in the early 50’s as a unique drive for belt conveyor applications.

Automation

ERP software helps keep bad product from consumers

Today’s cloud-based ERP software can track products in near real time

Wayne Labs

December 2, 2019

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ERP software can provide data showing who has the product and what its status is in the supply chain.

Tech Update

Why be liable for workplace injuries if robots can do the job safely, efficiently?

Wayne Labs

November 22, 2019

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Robots in picking, packing and palletizing applications have performed some new feats—thanks to clever system integrators who have given them sensitive touch, better grips and keen vision.

Sustainability

Reduce, reuse, recycle can help processors meet water usage goals

Sharon Spielman

November 18, 2019

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Although potable fresh water may seem like an endless resource, it is becoming scarcer as the population continues to grow and as the climate continues to change.

Engineering R&D

RAIN uses vacuum cycles for extraction to occur at the deepest layers of coffee

Wayne Labs

November 18, 2019

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The Reverse Atmospheric Infusion (RAIN) process also works with other media to create new and exciting organic and natural beverages or extracts to use in new products.

North Carolina Food Innovation Lab takes aim at food production of the future

Casey Laughman

November 13, 2019

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Depending on who is asked, Kannapolis, N.C., is most well known for being the birthplace of either Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton or NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. The mind behind “Atomic Dog” and the Intimidator don’t have a whole lot in common, but one thing they do share is a legacy of turning their respective fields on their heads

Packaging Research in Food Product Design and Development is the first book to comprehensively address the issues of graphics design and visual concepts, from a systematic, scientific viewpoint, yet with business applications in mind.

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Building on eight years of knowledge and data compiled from Schneider's Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey (MMNPL), The NEW Launch Plan: 152 Tips, Tactics and Trends from the Most Memorable New Products, examines successful launch strategies and tactics used by top tier consumer product companies.

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On Demand Energy savings is a hot topic these days, and everywhere you turn, someone's got something for you to buy to improve energy efficiency in your plant. Yet there are practical things you can do right now, with minimal to no additional investment, that can yield big gains in energy efficiency...