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 International Weighing Technology Initiative met for the first time on October 16th to focus on setting a standardized communication interface for weighing instruments. To date, there hasn’t been a real focus on standardizing the digitization of the weighing industry.
Inductive Automation selected the recipients of its Ignition Firebrand Awards for 2018, which were presented at the recent Ignition Community Conference (ICC) in September, 2018. Several entries included food applications.
Leading French dairy cooperative Maitres Laitiers du Cotentin (MLC) has deployed a combination of Quantum Corporation’s DXi deduplication appliances and Veeam software to meet the challenges of skyrocketing data growth and malware threats.
The Kellogg Company is expanding its global sustainability commitments to include a goal of working towards total (100 percent) reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by the end of 2025.
Greg Jacob, general manager of Allpax, with the help of Phillip LeBlanc, lead engineer, and Jonny Watkins, director of software development, devised the Allpax Telescopic Basket Loading System for making retort loading and unloading much safer.
A radical transformation of the food processing industry is required, starting with the c-suite getting out of its comfort zone and embracing the ability to imagine the meal of the future, says Roy Henderson, CEO of Green Cell Technologies.
When a food or beverage processor begins breaking down costs, sometimes startling facts are revealed. Here’s a case in point: Widmer Brothers Brewery (Portland, Ore.), founded in 1984 and part of the Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), had been using a liquid ring vacuum pump to bottle its beers, but realized the technology was consuming roughly 5,000 gallons of water per day.
Though Cyclospora outbreaks in the US happen less frequently than those caused by typical pathogens, the recent salad mix outbreaks occurring in July and August of this year have a familiar ring.