Tag

Retail

Views: 2373

How to Build a Better Capital Budget for Your Food Processing Plant

‘Tis the season to … piece together your capital budget for the new year. When estimating your numbers for food processing projects on the horizon, don’t just base your predictions on what you did the last time around. You shouldn’t be estimating costs based solely on square footage, either. However, there are ways to build a higher confidence level behind your budget and ensure its accuracy—it all lies within the data. Continue Reading “How to Build a Better Capital Budget for Your Food Processing Plant”

Views: 4569

5 Ways to Reduce Preventive Maintenance Costs for Your Food Processing Plant

Preventive maintenance should be one of your key strategies to keeping your plant’s assets healthy. While equipment upkeep and parts replacements are necessary, there are ways you can reduce your preventive maintenance costs without decreasing your food processing facility’s operational efficiencies.

Continue Reading “5 Ways to Reduce Preventive Maintenance Costs for Your Food Processing Plant”

Views: 588

Comment Deadline Approaching for Proposed HARPC FSMA Amendment

 


After receiving over 20,000 comments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently amended several previously proposed rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), including the Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) for Human Food rule. To address food safety from the beginning, the proposed HARPC rule requires preventative measures be taken at food processing facilities. While the FDA is currently accepting comments on the update, the December 15 deadline is rapidly approaching.

Continue Reading “Comment Deadline Approaching for Proposed HARPC FSMA Amendment”

Views: 2276

Are HEPA Filters the Most Valuable Choice for Your Plant?

Because billions of particles lace unconditioned air with dust, dirt, bacteria and pathogens, your plant’s air filters are crucial to preventing contamination and ensuring food safety. But when it comes to filtration, more isn’t necessarily better. This is especially true with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters. While HEPA filters may be a necessity for some plant environments, they could be expensive overkill for others.

Continue Reading “Are HEPA Filters the Most Valuable Choice for Your Plant?”

Views: 1106

Why Your Expansion Plan Needs Supply Chain Modeling

As the food processing industry continues to flourish, many manufacturers are faced with the need to increase capacity. Whether it’s adding a new process line, building an additional plant or expanding an existing facility, conducting a supply chain analysis in partnership with your design team can lead to better decision-making and more efficient capital expenditures.

Continue Reading “Why Your Expansion Plan Needs Supply Chain Modeling”

Views: 958

Eight Critical Steps in Water Treatment To Protect Your Products and Equipment

Whether you’re designing a new food processing plant or upgrading an existing facility, determining necessary upfront water treatment is a critical step in protecting and maintaining your plant’s systems. Many plants forgo thorough analysis resulting in poorly or untreated water that can lead to scale and bacterial buildup on equipment. Stellar often partners with water treatment professionals such as Southern Waters Company, Inc. to effectively manage clients’ clean water requirements.

Continue Reading “Eight Critical Steps in Water Treatment To Protect Your Products and Equipment”

Views: 798

A Conversation With Powerit Solutions® About Energy Management Technology

I recently sat down with Jack Perkins, Director of Channel Development for Powerit Solutions®, to discuss ways the food and beverage industry can benefit from energy management technology. Stellar often partners with energy experts such as Powerit Solutions to provide clients with a full range of tools to increase energy efficiency.

Continue Reading “A Conversation With Powerit Solutions® About Energy Management Technology”

Views: 1231

Automate These Three Processes to Increase Throughput

As product lines become more diverse due to increased demand in specialty ingredients in multiple sized packages with private labeling, manual processes become both costly and time consuming. Many food processing plant managers are recognizing the benefits of automating previously manual processes to increase production and reduce labor costs.

Continue Reading “Automate These Three Processes to Increase Throughput”

Views: 2351

Tips for Managing Multiple SKUs to Meet Customer Demands

The food and beverage industry today is all about consumer demand and meeting preferences for tastes, specialty ingredients and preparations (such as non-GMO, Kosher and gluten-free), flexible packaging, and convenient serving sizes.

Take the coffee industry for example: One customer wants a special blend in a light roast with a medium grind. Another customer wants a different blend in a dark roast with a fine grind. You can do the math and see the exponential impact of the options. Every variation creates a unique SKU for the coffee producer.

Continue Reading “Tips for Managing Multiple SKUs to Meet Customer Demands”