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.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim guidance for enforcing OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements (29 CFR Part 1904) as it relates to recording cases of COVID-19.
Covantis, the industry initiative that aims to modernize global trade operations, has received all required regulatory approvals and has incorporated as a legal entity in Geneva, Switzerland, as Covantis SA. The company is co-owned by its founding members: ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus Company and Glencore Agriculture.
According to a white paper published by the Institute of Food Technologists entitled "Food Research: Call to Action on Funding and Priorities," public spending on foundational research for both agriculture and food in the U.S. has been slowly trending downward since 2006 or so, while private R&D spending has seen a small increase.
With people out of jobs and income and with hospital and medical communities in need of supplies, people are wondering where their next meal is coming from, and many food companies, distributors, retailers and equipment suppliers around the world have responded to the call to help in any way they can. Government organizations are participating as well. Here's a look at how some of those companies and organizations are helping others.
Beginning Friday, March 27, ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business will make key software services available free of charge to its customers until Dec. 31, 2020. Among the services included are condition monitoring and diagnostics, asset management software and remote troubleshooting and monitoring of production lines for the delivery of important supplies.
While the coronavirus infection continues to spread exponentially, food companies should perform due diligence with suppliers, even though the risk of virus transmission in the supply chain is low.
For the past almost 20 years, Pace Processing, a commercial bakery located in British Columbia, Canada has experienced consistent growth. That growth has led the company to adopt an automation strategy, but that presents its own challenges.
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), facilitated by The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), has announced the results of its annual board election. The change in leadership structure marks a new era for GFSI, in keeping with recent developments in the organization’s governance and strategy.