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Before a facility can become operational, there is much to consider including planning and design, government regulations and the overall goals a plant owner has. Let’s look at four major decisions that should be considered when the process begins.
Continue Reading “4 Major Decisions That Impact the Design of Your Facility”
When Royal Cup first sat down with Stellar to discuss its expansion project, it had bold aspirations and high expectations. The Birmingham-based importer and roaster of specialty coffees and fine teas decided to invest in cutting-edge manufacturing updates to keep pace with its growing consumer base and sales.
“To do a project of this magnitude, you really need to have an expert here involved on the day-to-day, with their fingers in the project,” said Bill Smith, Royal Cup’s president.
You’ve likely heard of a facility assessment before. It’s a top-to-bottom check-up for your food or beverage plant that can optimize energy usage, improve food safety, minimize risks and save money. But I’ve also heard from people who have their doubts.
Isn’t it just an embarrassing and awkward critique by an auditor? How is it different than if our own staff analyzes our facility? Do I really need an assessment if the plant is running fine?
Continue Reading “Is a Facility Assessment Worth It? [VIDEO]”
Energy costs typically account for 30 percent of a facility’s operating budget. That means nearly a third of all the money you funnel into your plant goes straight to the utility bill.
We already know about the popularity of green building and sustainable practices, but is it possible to go too green? In short, yes. You don’t want to go so overboard with efficiencies that you’re overspending on unnecessary improvements.
Continue Reading “6 Ways to Optimize Your Facility’s Energy Consumption”
With a new year comes a fresh start, and for some business owners that may mean a budget reboot. Perhaps your resolution for 2017 is to cut costs at your facility—but where?
There are a lot of areas to consider, but one of the best ways to eliminate unnecessary costs is to optimize your processes.
Continue Reading “How to Eliminate Costs Through Process Optimization”
We all know the importance of food safety. One oversight can put public health and your bottom line at risk. That’s why meeting food safety standards isn’t enough — merely complying is the lowest bar.
We discuss food safety often, but when was the last time you examined your facility’s risks from a high-level view? Let’s examine five major areas to focus on when assessing your plant’s food safety risks.
Continue Reading “5 Focus Areas for Assessing Food Safety Risks”
A strategic plan is a roadmap that defines the future of your business. That roadmap is crucial to your company’s success down the road, but creating one is a heavy undertaking. Food processors are already pressed for time with day-to-day tasks, and dedicating time and resources to plan for the future may not be feasible.
Continue Reading “6 Essential Qualities to Look for in a Strategic Planning Consultant”
Does your food processing company have a strategic plan? Failing to plan is planning to fail—especially when it comes to your business. Earlier this year, Stellar hosted the Food Engineering webinar, 3 Key Elements in a Successful Strategic Plan for Growth. That webinar is now available on-demand, so you can still catch up on our discussion about how strategic planning can benefit food manufacturing plants, and how you can get started with developing your own strategic plan.
Ask any food manufacturer or processor if they are committed to high safety and quality standards and their answer will, of course, be yes. But even with the strictest standards, thousands of recalls are still issued each year in the U.S. In 2015, the FDA recalled 9,178 products, a 12-percent increase over the previous two years. If you weighed the amount of goods the USDA recalled last year alone, it would be as heavy as 52 Boeing 747 airliners. That’s a lot of product gone to waste.
Continue Reading “Preventing a Recall: How to Manage 3 Threats Facing Food and Beverage Plants”
No matter how well-planned a food plant project is, it can still present challenges. After decades of experience in the food and beverage industry, we’ve found you can best overcome these hurdles with two simple solutions: frequent communication and flexibility. Stellar recently put these practices into play in the design-build of a meat manufacturing plant for an international company. Here, we review how these solutions led to success in the project and how they can help in your own endeavors, too.
![[VIDEO] In Their Words: An Inside Look at Expanding a State-of-the-Art Coffee Plant](https://stellarfoodforthought.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-08-at-11.06.02-AM.png)
![Is a Facility Assessment Worth It? [VIDEO]](https://stellarfoodforthought.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-01-at-1.51.48-PM.png)
