If you’ve ever baked bread or sweet breakfast rolls at home, you know how wonderful that fragrance can be, ramping up your appetite for a fresh slice out of the oven. But, that friendly fragrance from your kitchen—or early in the morning from the local bakery down the street—may not be what a community wants from an industrial-scale food plant, especially if it occurs around the clock.

New tight fitting conveyor concept features a quick release and disassembly of the deck, belt, motor and rollers. 

The AquaPruf Vertical Belt Conveyor by Dorner is engineered to move bulk products such as vegetables, fruits/grains/nuts, popcorn and others in straight-up 90° sanitary applications. 

We had a minor snag with one of the feature stories for this issue.

The cereal brand has just installed cereal-dispensing robots through its’ DoorDash pilot program.

We in the trade press have been extolling the virtues of automation for a long time, and you’re probably sick of hearing us ramble on about it. Nevertheless, if there were any other reason to take a hard look at implementing automation—at least partially—in your facility, it would be now. COVID-19 has certainly created some practical problems: Short-staff due to people at home sick with coronavirus, social distancing impossible on cutting/protein lines, changeover time killing production output…and the list goes on.

There’s a helicopter on Mars.

It’s still pretty amazing to be able to type those words. 

While technological solutions help processors ensure data stays safe, human error is still a potential weakness.

As retail demand surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, food and beverage manufacturers found themselves having to quickly ramp up production to keep pace. The challenge faced by many was how to properly clean and sanitize both equipment and production areas when shifts were added or extended, while plants were running seven days a week and employees were scrambling to keep up with the surge in demand.