For Intercontinental Brands (ICB), the days of manual recordkeeping are gone. Its investment in software applications has given it room to grow, and dispensing its spreadsheets and filing cabinets for good.
Using IFS Applications™, Globus has gone from a bespoke, manual legacy system to a sensitive automated planning tool. All business areas are now fully integrated, providing enhanced inventory control as well as service delivery capacity. The result is significant savings in time, resources and costs.
Tulip, one of Denmark’s leading producers of processed food for the domestic and export market, produces around 90 tons of sausages each day. A large proportion of these – about 60 tons a day – is packaged under a modified atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen to keep the product fresh and improve its shelf life. This case study shows how the company improved its efficiency by installing a Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) system.
Bye-bye manual testing: Replaced by new on-line gas analyzer. This case study examines how a meat processing company made the switch from manually and randomly testing of its packages five times each day to an on-line headspace analyzer for its Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) products.
In 2004, Mariscos Linamar, a Spanish seafood company, began to investigate the innovative idea of packaging a proportion of its product in a modified atmosphere, with the aim to extend the product shelf life and improve its appearance. Years of research followed. After extensive research and trials, the optimal gas mixture, comprising oxygen and carbon dioxide blended in a ratio that depends on the product and the format of the package, had been decided upon as well as the best packaging approach. This case study illustrates the process the company used to implement Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) with thermosealed trays.
Hellenic Quality Foods (HQF) is a leading food company in Greece, packaged its products on trays with stretch film until early 2014. This case study shows how the company made the move to Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) to improve its products shelf and extend its customer reach.
Facing unprecedented pressures to keep up with e-commerce growth and demand, the retail grocery industry is focusing on accelerating the flexibility of supply chains.
In the food production industry, product contamination by microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi presents a potential and omnipotent risk. It is therefore important to prevent any type of contamination and to facilitate its removal. The public's access to multimedia also makes it more sensitive to the importance of hygienic design. This is why more and more facility and machine builders as well as manufacturers of individual components of these face this increasing challenge.
One way or another, most of us are subject to the statutory and regulatory provisions of FSMA. While some of these provisions are merely codifications of good manufacturing practices (GMPs), others are new and different requirements. Here, I discuss allergen control plans, why you need one, and some of the things that should be included within one.
Food manufacturers are working to improve traceability programs and minimize the impact of food recalls, driven in part by FSMA, cost savings, and brand protection. Boosted by the capabilities of today’s technology, such as Blockchain, the industry is moving closer than ever before to swift and precise recalls.
In the food industry, it is important to consider that sterilization isn’t a “one size fits all” type of formula. Certain product-sensitive foods, such as baby food, require the utmost sterilization.
With the emergence of new FSMA rules and a bioengineering labeling rule in the works, the industry is going to have even more headaches to deal with. Environmental monitoring, the threat of intentional contamination of the food supply, and yet another labeling change are emerging and could be another reason for food manufacturers to reach for Tylenol.
For more than one hundred years, Waldner has provided the very best in filling and sealing machines for cups, trays and portion packs. The next logical step was to develop solutions for flexible packaging.
PTI offers non-destructive inspection solutions for 100% online inspection of retort pouches. The critical issues with retort pouches continue to be seal quality and pouch integrity.
VeriPac systems can be easily integrated into the packaging process to improve quality, reduce waste, and provide operators with a clear understanding of package quality. VeriPac test systems are non-destructive, non-subjective and require no sample preparation. Test fixtures are designed to inspect flexible and rigid packaging. Tests can be performed in any sequence and even repeatedly on a single sample. VeriPac’s inspection method is more reliable, cost effective and efficient than destructive methods, plus it eliminates subjective, misleading results that vary from operator to operator.
WALDNER Filling and Sealing Equipment offers a full line of high performance solutions for cups, trays, portion packs and pre-made pouches. DOSOMAT “ultra clean” filling systems are available in both rotary and inline configurations for hot fill, semi-aseptic, MAP and retort applications. WALDNER also offers the latest sterilization technologies for packaging materials. All machines are complete wash-down (rated IP-65), CIP capable, and have USDA / 3A dairy environment construction. Applications include yogurt, cheeses, butter/margarine, pudding, spreads, and many other dairy based products. Sales, service and support provided by Waldner North America.
Umbra Packaging specializes in the filling and sealing of dry, powdered dairy products, providing a full range of equipment from basic filling and sealing machines to fully automated lines, including palletizing and stretch wrapping systems. Umbra’s expertise in the design and development of fill technologies allows for filling of powdery products, granular products, as well as dusty products. Special features for these applications include dust suppression and minimal dust generation, de-aeration and bag compaction for ultra clean handling, filling, and sealing of fine powders.
Umbra manufactures bag filling and sealing machinery for all sorts of dry products in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and agricultural industries. Umbra specializes in the filling and sealing of dry pet food and pet care products. Umbra provides a full range of equipment from the basic filling and sealing machinery to fully automated lines including multi-head weighers, case loading systems, palletizing and stretch wrapping systems. An Umbra packaging machine can fill bags up to 55lbs. with a variety of pouch materials and closure techniques, providing an extremely versatile solution to customers looking for high flexibility.
Chelsea Milling Co., maker of Jiffy Mix baking mixes, is moving ahead with plans to spend $35 million as part of an expansion that includes the addition of a new mixing tower, according to an article in The Ann Arbor News.
This podcast features Steve Smith, processing specialist at Purdue University, addresses aseptic processing and packaging. Smith runs Purdue’s Science Pilot Plant Laboratory, which runs tests for the food industry in the areas of aseptic and traditional thermal processing. Aseptic processing is a thermal processing method that allows food products to be commercially sterilized separately from the food packaging material. Smith offers overview of recent advancements in aseptic processing, such as particulate validation, hold tube flow control laminar or turbulent flow, pumping methods, heat exchangers, non-thermal processing and aseptic dosing.
In this podcast, Scott Reed, VP of sales, marketing and customer service with Adco Manufacturing, addresses automation and robotics in secondary packaging. Major reasons for the rapid growth of robotics in packaging include the fact that the automation has become less expensive and offers increased precision, speed and flexibility. Reed also discusses how cartons and cases play a role in the protection of food products, while helping to build product brands.
Rick Gessler, marketing director of Delkor Systems, updates the industry on developments in retail-ready packaging (RRP). It’s a matter of getting products from shipping configuration onto the retail shelf in an attractive display. Designing RRP incorporates many factors, depending on market channel, protection in transit and ease of stocking and shopping. Growth in the use of stand-up pouches is providing an impetus for further development of RRP, and equipment advances are speeding the packaging process.
Primary Food and Beverage Packaging serves several functions. Physical protection of the product from vibration, compression, and temperature is one function. Packaging offers Barrier Protection from things like oxygen, water, dust, etc. Some packages contain desiccants or oxygen absorbers to help keep contents fresh, safe, and extend shelf life. Packaging also allows for Containment or Agglomeration, which means packaging small items typically grouped together such as liquids, powders, and granular materials. Packages and labels also provide Information Transmission, helping users obtain information on opening, use, recycle, or disposal of the packaging or product. Packaging materials also provide space for Marketing Messages. Tamper resistance packaging helps maintain product Security. Innovations in packaging also add to Customer Convenience and Portion Control.
Primary packaging is the term used to define the layer of packaging in immediate contact with the product. The most obvious and important function of primary packaging is to keep the product absolutely sealed off from its environment. Primary packaging is designed to protect and preserve the product from damage, external contamination, spoiling and chemical imbalances.
Examples of primary packaging include blister packs, strip packs, clamshell packaging, shrink wrapping, paperboard packaging, unit dose packs, stand-up pouches, glass bottles and jars, gable-top cartons, aluminum trays, metal bottles, and more. Primary packaging materials include metal, cardboard, glass, ridged plastics, which include high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and jars.
A critical component in food and beverage packaging is Aseptic packaging. Aseptic packaging is the process by which a sterile food or beverage product is packaged in a sterile container in a way to maintain the sterility. Aseptic packaging allows food and beverages to be stored for long periods of time without preservatives, as long as the packages aren't opened.
