Food & Beverage

• How to Lower Your Facility’s Electric Bill: Tweaking Your Energy Efficiency and Power Usage

  How to Lower Your Facility’s Electric Bill:  Tweaking Your Energy Efficiency and Power Usage  Your home electric bill is usually based on a simple calculation: How many kilowatt hours (kWh) did you use?  Your energy consumption can be seen by watching how fast the little disk spins inside your electric meter. Seldom are industrial and […]

  Read MoreVince Trejchel, PE / Energy Conservation / Energy Efficiency / Energy Savings / Manufacturing plant safety / Power Demand / Power Engineering / Power Usage / Construction / Manufacturing / vtrejchel /

• Design Considerations for Equipment and Piping Layout: Guidelines for Vessels

  Design Considerations for Equipment and Piping Layout:  Guidelines for Vessels This is the first in a four-part series on equipment and piping layout. This article provides guidelines for equipment that includes tanks, horizontal and vertical vessels, cooling towers, and compressors.  The second article will discuss layout considerations for pumps. Guidelines for piping layout and pipe racks will […]

  Read MoreScott Saneholtz, PE / Piping Engineer / Piping Layout / Process Engineer / Construction / Manufacturing / ssaneholtz /

• Food Packaging Changes – Part 2: Preliminary Engineering Assessments

  Food Packaging Changes – Part 2: Preliminary Engineering Assessments Even a “minor format change” in food product packaging can have a major impact on a capital project’s cost and the final cost of goods. Our three-part series on preliminary engineering methodology explains how preliminary engineering assessments help food manufacturers investigate alternative packaging specifications and project […]

  Read MoreDavid Travis, PE, PMP / Industrial automation engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Packaging Process Improvement / Pre-Engineering Consulting Services / Estimating / Planning / dtravis /

• How to Use 3D Laser Scanning for Industrial Plant Design: An Engineer’s Guide – Part 3: Estimating Scanning Costs

  How to Use 3D Laser Scanning for Industrial Plant Design: An Engineer’s Guide – Part 3: Estimating Scanning Costs The cost of performing 3D laser scanning is largely based on the area of the scan needed and the proximity of the job site to the location of the scanning technician. But ensuring a complete and […]

  Read MoreMark O'Connell, PE / 3D Laser Scanning / Engineering Services Provider / Industrial automation engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Multidiscipline Engineering / Construction / Manufacturing / Planning / 3D Scanning / mroconnell /

• Don’t Let Thermal Expansion Cause Excessive Piping Stress: Part 3, How to Inspect Your Piping to Prevent Problems

  Don’t Let Thermal Expansion Cause Excessive Piping Stress: Part 3, How to Inspect Your Piping to Prevent Problems This is the final installment in a three-part series on thermal expansion and piping stress.  The first article provides a primer on the basics of the thermal expansion and contraction found in industrial facilities. The second article focuses […]

  Read MoreBill Schuller, PE / Oil & Gas / Pipe Stress / Piping Engineer / Piping Stress / Process Engineer / Stress Analysis / Thermal Contraction / Thermal Expansion / Construction / Manufacturing / bschuller /

• Automotive Engineering: Replacing Obsolete Static-Style Andon Display Boards

  Automotive Engineering: Replacing Obsolete Static-Style Andon Display Boards In the automotive industry, the styling, functionality, and options on vehicles can change fast – and the build lines in the factory have to change just as rapidly. To accommodate a new vehicle build option, installation stations are changed or renumbered up and down the line. In […]

  Read MoreAaron Hilbers / Automotive Manufactures Engineers / Automovive Manufacturing Services / Industrial Automaiton Engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Improvement / Upgrades / ahilbers /

• Food Packaging – Part 1: Hidden Project Risks in Carton & Case Count Reductions

  Food Packaging – Part 1: Hidden Project Risks in Carton & Case Count Reductions As marketing teams in the food industry battle for the consumer’s attention on the shelf, they must also meet the needs of retailers with packaging that takes less shelf space and increases product turns. These retailer requirements often lead to packaging redesigns […]

  Read MoreDavid Travis, PE, PMP / Industrial automation engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Packaging Process Improvement / Pre-Engineering Consulting Services / Estimating / Planning / dtravis /

• How to Handle Harmonics in Electrical Power Systems

  How to Handle Harmonics in Electrical Power Systems While musical harmonics can be pleasing to the ear, electrical current harmonics are an increasing problem in power systems. Equipment and cables can overheat, motors can be damaged, and your electric bill could be a lot higher than it needs to be. Without going into Fourier equations […]

  Read MoreVince Trejchel, PE / Harmonics / IEEE / Manufacturing plant safety / Power Engineering / Power Factor Correction / Power System / vtrejchel /

• Mobile Technology: Is Your Plant Millennial-Friendly?

  Mobile Technology: Is Your Plant Millennial-Friendly? The Millennial generation – generally considered to be people who reached adulthood around the beginning of the 21st century – has grown up in a world filled with electronics and increasingly online and socially-networked. They are the first conscious participants in an era when everyone has access to everything, […]

  Read MoreDivya Prakash / Industrial automation engineering / Manufacturing Intelligence / Management / Planning / Data Management / dprakash /

• Choosing an Automation Platform: Compliance with IEC 61131

  Choosing an Automation Platform: Compliance with IEC 61131 IEC 61131 was published in 1993 after over 10 years of development by IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission). The 10-part standard is an attempt to standardize programmable controllers. Each of the 10 parts addresses a different part of the programmable controller. Parts are identified by the number […]

  Read MoreJosh Peeno, PE / Industrial Automation / Industrial automation engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / PLC Programming / system integrator company / Integrations / Rockwell Automation / Upgrades / jpeeno /