The Monitor

Why should customers care whether they buy from employee-owned companies or not? Typically, customers receive greater value when working with an employee-owned company. Pride of employee ownership produces a culture that benefits their customers. That pride positively impacts the employee culture in attitude, engagement and communication with their customers.

Overall, employee owners care more, work harder and serve customers better than non-employee owners because they have a financial stake in the customers’ experience and are committed to their ongoing satisfaction. Following are three ways customers benefit from an employee-owned company culture:

Read More

Topics: Company News

Peanut and tree nut allergies are two of the top eight most common food allergies. The other six are milk, eggs, soy beans, fish, shellfish, wheat and corn. Allergies to peanuts are generally a life-long condition, with only about 20 percent of people with the allergy ever receiving a remedy. In addition, up to 40 percent of people with peanut allergies are also allergic to tree nuts.

An allergic reaction can occur just by touching a surface with a trace amount of peanut butter and then touching one’s eye. Some of the serious reactions can be deadly; therefore, identifying an allergen such as peanuts or tree nuts in food processing is vital to protecting consumers. The challenge in controlling allergens such as peanuts and tree nuts involves the entire process at a food production plant. Identifying the allergens means using preventative measures to detect them, particularly when producing products with allergen sources such as nuts.

Read More

Topics: Food & Beverage

Within the oil and gas industry, hydrocarbon liquids such as crude oil, condensates, and oil and water mixtures must be sampled to yield representative samples for analysis. The resulting data is used for quality control, to determine product properties and composition, and for fiscal calculations, allocations and loss control.

In addition to complying with custody transfer standards such as API 8.2 and ASTM D 4177, the advantages of representative sampling include:

•  Higher return on investment
•  Better loss control
•  Lower operating costs

Read More

Topics: Upstream & Midstream

Reducing and managing downtime in any process operation is vital to ensuring uninterrupted production and the safety of your plant operators. You need to obtain representative samples reliably to assess plant and product condition to control your process effectively.

Regularly scheduled maintenance keeps your sampling solution operating at peak performance and extends their life. Over time, however, the efficiency of samplers and sampling systems decreases. For example, in a steam and water analysis system, sample coolers lose capacity due to calcification and wear. Analyzers may not deliver consistently accurate measurements which can compromise regulatory compliance. Wear and leakage of valves and safety devices can cause unnecessary risk to operator safety. While much of this can be a result of normal operation, it is often a direct result of improper maintenance, calibration or obsolescence.

As your sampling solution ages, it requires ongoing maintenance, service, and in some cases refurbishment, with replacement of components or at worst, complete replacement. You need qualified technicians to service your equipment and recommend the correct course of action. Operator safety and protection of production is not something to take lightly. While some organizations have in-house capabilities, many don't  and under these circumstances, you need to look to an outside service partner.

Read More

Topics: Any Application

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Topics: Any Application