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.
Emerson's engineers have created a sensing device capable of detecting gas leaks in bottles, cans and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) at line speeds, using laser technology developed by Cascade Technologies, a Stirling, Scotland-based spinoff of the University of Strathclyde.
While time is running out for small farms to comply with the FSMA Produce Rule, the FDA released a 172-page draft guidance for the Produce Safety Rule at the end of October, with a six month comment period.
Deli Brands of America supplies wholesalers, restaurants and steakhouses, food retailers and industrial customers with delicatessen meats, steaks, veal, pork, lamb and other specialties. Previously the company had used several manual systems—including Excel and Outlook—as well as many paper-based forms for operating its production facility. Unfortunately, this led to inaccurate data, time-consuming information retrieval and poor reports.
The Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) and the FBI have issued an activity alert to inform all computer network system operators about SamSam ransomware—aka MSIL/Samas.A. This malware has been in circulation for some time and continues to inflict damage to systems.
Diversey, a global supplier in the hygiene and cleaning industry, has announced the appointment of Mark S. Burgess as its new chief executive officer, effective Dec. 17.
When you think of robots in the food industry, you probably think of heavy-lifting jobs, such as palletizing. However, this article looks at four exacting applications for robots on the production floor—including primary packaging.
Bühler Inc, a global supplier in process engineering and technology for food, feed and advanced industrial materials, has announced the appointment of Andy Sharpe as its new President and CEO. Sharpe, who succeeds René Steiner, will take over on the first of January.
With all the variable frequency motor drives in a modern food or beverage plant, knowing the level and quality of voltages and currents they’re sending to a motor could help a maintenance tech save the life of a motor.
The Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA) has named Fisher Construction Group the winner of CEBA’s “Built by the Best” Award for its cold storage facility constructed for NewCold in Tacoma, WA. The project is NewCold’s first facility in the US, and it is reportedly the second high-bay, low-oxygen freezer in the country.