Five Things To Consider When Selecting A Site For Your New Plant

Earlier this year, Food Processing magazine’s Kevin T. Higgins claimed that being a food manufacturer was the next best thing to being a king. Why? Because most new plant projects and renovations are now supported by generous, multimillion public subsidies. But while communities dangle expensive bait in hopes of catching job creation, it’s skewing the site-selection process, resulting in plants built in unfit locations. Continue Reading “Five Things To Consider When Selecting A Site For Your New Plant”

When to Conduct a Feasibility Study For Major Plant Decisions

In this day and age of fierce competition and tighter budgets, food manufacturers are often faced with making critical—and expensive—business decisions as part of their strategic plan. Should you refurbish existing equipment or buy new equipment to meet your manufacturing needs? Should you add product lines to increase market share and what impact would that have on current operations?

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How Product, Product Mix and Production Volume Impact Design

Preliminary discussions with your food processing plant architects should include a thorough discussion of your sales and marketing goals. Your plant’s specific products, product mixes (including future products), and production volume all impact decisions made during the design process.

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How to Ensure Quality Control in Food Processing Facilities in China

We have very tight quality control standards in the U.S. and chances are, you’ll want to employ those same standards in your facility overseas. China has different, often non-existent, standards so managing quality control is solely up to your team. Ensure that you have a team of individuals who oversee everything from your engineering documents to intellectual property to equipment selection and installation. Here are my top four areas that must be managed closely to ensure quality control.

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Four Tips for Food Processing Site Selection in China

More and more food companies are expanding into emerging markets such as China, capitalizing on growing middle classes and increasing popularity of westernized diets. Yet setting up a food processing facility in China – from financing and permitting to quality control and food safety – is a vastly different process than in the U.S. This month in Food for Thought, we’ll explore these topics in more depth and offer our tips and insights based on our own experience operating in China.

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