Food Manufacturing

Food industry at robotics tipping point

In the last 12 months there has been a noticeable uptake in robotics in the food processing sector. Although way behind the rest of the EU and US markets in terms of sales, global food security, volatile commodity prices and the much reported grocery price wars are all driving manufacturers towards the same conclusion; efficiency is paramount and introducing robotics provides that all-important competitive edge.

25th February 2015

Offline coders for high-end dairy desserts

According to Mintel, the chilled desserts segment was the only part of the desserts category to grow in both value and volume terms over the 5-year period from 2008 to 2013, reflecting the continued migration towards chilled from ambient and frozen desserts. Within the chilled desserts segment, single-serve, premium offerings are leading the charge. Many of these high-end desserts come in sophisticated pack formats such as stemmed sundae pots and ramekins. Whilst these shapely new designs add shelf appeal, they can cause headaches for the sleeve coding operation.

20th February 2015

Machine design tips to minimise risk of Legionnaires' Disease

Steven Booth of Guardian Air and Water Hygiene outlines the steps that machine builders need to take when designing new plant to minimise the risk of Legionnaires' Disease developing at a later date.

14th January 2015

SATO helps food businesses comply with EU legal obligations

SATO has developed systems that produce labels to clearly indicate vital information about foods and beverages, enabling food manufacturers and retailers meet EU legal obligations and avoid harsh penalties. With the new European Directive 1169/2011 on food labelling coming into force on 13th December 2014, anyone producing or selling foods and beverages without clearly displaying information such as allergens, nutrition and origin may be at risk of criminal prosecution. Although they differ from country to country, penalties are likely to be severe and range from unlimited fines in the UK to up to 2 years in prison in France.

15th December 2014

Robots helping food processors future proof their plants

People need to eat, so there will always be a food industry. But people are also demanding, so price, quality and availability are the main forces that drive development in the industry. Ten years ago UK food prices were far lower than they are today - and since the bank collapse of 2008 many people have lower incomes. Food processers are aware of this and are increasingly looking to robots and automation to address their operating efficiency.

3rd December 2014

Gas detection from past to present

Testing for gasses has come a long way since the days when Victorian miners would take a canary down a mineshaft as an early warning indicator of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, methane or carbon dioxide. This article outlines some of the options available today for gas leakage testing, and Intrinsically Safe instruments for other testing applications.

12th November 2014

M2M communications bring sophistication to the water industry

The "˜Internet of Things' is coming to the water industry, delivering new levels of data that will enable water companies to control remote assets with increased sophistication, minimise risk, ensure security of supply, save energy and meet ever more stringent EU directives. Jeremy Shinton, Product Manager - Business Solutions & Software for Mitsubishi Electric, discusses the role of machine-to-machine communications as a driver for change.

29th October 2014

How do I get the perfect finish on stainless steel?

Nigel Willcock, Technical Sevice Engineer at 3M Abrasive Systems Division, discusses the use of Metal Finishing Products to achieve the desired finish for stainless steel.

28th October 2014

Making sense of real-time load measurement

The handling of dry bulk materials used to be a completely manual process, but it is now being increasingly automated in a drive to reduce both the costs and the risks of injury, while also increasing throughput and accuracy. We report on some of the new real-time load measurement technologies behind these developments.

7th October 2014

How food manufacturers can benefit from robotic automation

This article from Fanuc outlines how food manufacturers can benefit from robotic automation, typically for pick-and-place and packaging applications, with the company claiming that enquiries for this type of application are up 35 per cent compared with the previous year.

2nd October 2014

Technical Articles