The Monitor

Today’s media posts include food recalls due to contamination, impurities, and mislabeling almost weekly. Food recalls have grown 4-fold in the last 5 years and the average cost of a recall for a food company is $10million. The food supply chain is getting increasingly complex and safety problems can directly affect public health. Protecting a food producer’s brand and its consumers with product traceability is more important than ever.

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Topics: Food & Beverage

Earlier this month PACK EXPO International 2016 brought the best-of-the-best in processing and packaging innovation from a wide variety of industries at the largest processing and packaging trade show in the world.

This year’s show introduced two new hygienic automatic samplers for free-flowing solids and powders: the Sentry HPR automatic point sampler and the Sentry HRX automatic strip sampler.

In addition to exhibiting at this show, AJ Naber, Industry Manager for Sentry Equipment, presented on the Innovation Stage to discuss why representative sampling is critical for food safety: “Promoting Food Safety Through Representative Sampling & Hygienic Design.” If you missed PACK EXPO or the presentation, the content of it is discussed below.

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Topics: Food & Beverage

Today’s manufacturing has changed in recent years to promote quality, innovation and productivity. As a result, customers are demanding more from their suppliers. They want manufacturing partners with an advanced manufacturing plant with more capabilities.

In addition to an organized, orderly, clean and safe environment, customers want products from advanced manufacturing plants that use the latest production equipment and processes to employ agile, flexible and smart manufacturing. They want the benefits of the facilities that use advanced technologies for improved product quality, reduced costs and on-time production and delivery.

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Topics: Company News

Building a new plant or updating an existing facility is a complicated, long-term process that involves dozens of agencies and partners. Petrochemical companies are planning to invest over $80 billion in new manufacturing infrastructure, meaning facilities will become more familiar with this process over the next few years.

We’re already seeing a new trend within this building surge: Standardizing sampler designs to maintain consistency in manual sampling systems.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream

Thanks to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), manufacturing is smarter and faster than ever before. Equipment is increasingly autonomous as technology allows it to not only manage data, but collect and share it in relevant ways: man to machine, machine to man and machine to machine. As a result, “smart” equipment introduces objective processes that dictate how components will interpret and adjust to information, including monitoring service needs and correcting output before bad products are made.

Applying IIoT principles to samplers and analyzers demonstrates that using technologically intelligent equipment isn’t just a matter of convenience. Wired or wireless electronic data collection from sampler sensors – such as temperature, pressure, flow and weight – is advantageous in optimizing process parameters through real-time data collection, interpretation and application.

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Topics: Any Application

Suppliers are an essential part of any large engineering project. They’re needed to complete specialized designs and builds that meet the quality standards of the companies that hire them. Yet, not all suppliers are capable of delivering on their promises. This costs engineering firms time and money. 

Overcoming bias when it comes to selecting a supplier can be a major hurdle. Especially, when existing relationships are already in place. So, it’s essential to know how to separate a preferred supplier from a strategic supplier before you partner with them. Here are five crucial traits of a reliable, strategic supplier.

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Topics: Any Application

A steam and water analysis system (SWAS) conditions, analyzes and monitors the chemical properties of the steam and water used to generate electricity. A well-designed SWAS maximizes efficiency and output while also protecting plant assets, operators and the environment.

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Shutting down a power plant is a complex process that can be stressful and complicated. But having a step-by-step process to follow can simplify the entire procedure, especially when it comes to shutting down and servicing steam and water sample conditioning systems or analyzers.

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water

The steam and water analysis system (SWAS) is the nerve center of any power plant, and any deviation from optimal operation and consistent steam and water sampling can lead to added time and expense. In some cases, that might take the form of an overnight shift to make up for a marginally functioning SWAS.

Adding a shift is a considerable commitment and, understandably, not one plant management wants to undertake. However, alleviating this concern is possible with regular, proactive SWAS panel maintenance.

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Multiple industries engage representative sampling. It’s a pivotal process for quality control, process control, custody transfer and regulatory compliance. The benefits of representative sampling are well known, but what is the cost of not doing so? 

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Topics: Any Application