Conveyor Belt

Ashworth Bros.’ ExactaStack self-stacking spiral belt is a drop-in replacement for standard and wide belt stackers. It is available in all widths, tier heights, and mesh configurations for both spliced-in sections and complete belt replacements. As a drop-in replacement, no system drive modifications are required, and with every option available, Ashworth can provide the right ExactaStack belt for specific production needs, in addition to optimizing the stacker system and ensuring maximum throughput and capacity.

Ashworth Bros. Inc.: (800) 682-4594 
or visit www.ashworth.com

Data Management

Now control and information have merged into a single system. ITM-Plant iT, available only from Heat and Control Inc., combines the real-time control of your plant equipment with essential manufacturing execution system (MES) capabilities to maximize efficiency in both startup and on-going operations. ITM-Plant iT utilizes an “object oriented” model for controls which contains the equipment control, equipment visualization, and all the information required to feed the integrated MES solutions

Heat and Control Inc.: (800) 227-5980 or visit www.heatandcontrol.com

Checkweigher

OCS Checkweighers debuts its full range of Industrial PC controlled checkweighers at this year’s Pack Expo in Las Vegas. New this year will be the HC-MEDIUM for mid-range applications for speeds of up to 250 pieces/minute. It is operated by an industrial PC and is characterized by its 10.4 inches mobile touch display. It features the same control concept of the high-end checkweigher HC-A making cross training between various controllers a thing of the past.

OCS Checkweighers Inc.: 
(678) 344-8300 or visit 
www.ocs-cw.com/english/Home

Bacon Processing

The PPI-200 Bacon System can produce up to 2400 pounds of flat pack bacon per hour. A high speed downgrade diverter interfaces with vision slicers to automate the grading process and ensure that downgrades don’t get combined with number one bacon. The high speed PPI-200 Interleaver only dispenses paper when bacon is present. The highly accurate interleaving ensures that bacon is correctly positioned on the paper both side to side and front to back.

Packaging Progressions Inc.: (610) 489-8601 
or visit www.pacproinc.com

Chicken Hock/Neck Cutter

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Jarvis Products produces the Model CPE, pneumatically powered hock and neck cutter for chickens, ducks and game birds. The CPE features an average operator capacity of 3,000 birds per hour. Constructed from corrosion-resistant materials for optimum hygiene and easy maintenance, the CPE doesn’t need any oil or grease for lubrication. There are no springs, meaning more tool power – all air pressure is converted into cutting force. The tool has pneumatic blade closing and opening.

Jarvis Products Corp.: (860) 347-7271 or visit www.jarvisproducts.com

Tray Indexing Conveyor

NuTEC’s Automatic Direct Depositing and Tray Indexing Conveyor is configured to run with its existing 720 Food Forming Machine. When set up with the 720, the Tray Indexing Conveyor efficiently portions and deposits patties directly into trays at speeds of up to 65 trays per minute or even fillings onto tortillas. Designed specifically for small to medium processors, NuTEC’s completely hydraulic 720 Forming Machine is versatile enough to run beef, pork, poultry, seafood, and more.

NuTEC Mfg.: (815) 722-2800 
or visit www.nutecmfg.com

Salmonella Detection

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, has launched a new, innovative food safety testing method, VIDAS UP 
Salmonella (SPT). This new food safety solution utilizes recombinant bacteriophage (phage) proteins, which offer best-in-class specificity and sensitivity for the targeted capture and detection of Salmonella bacteria in food and environmental samples. The technology complements the company’s VIDAS E. coli O157 (including H7) phage technology for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

bioMérieux Food Safety: (800) 634-7656 or visit www.biomerieux-usa.com/phage

Case Packing System

JLS Automation has selected the ABB IRB 360 FlexPicker robot for its new Osprey case packing system, designed for loading low profile wrapped or vacuum packed product into shallow shipping cases. The Osprey is the first case packing system in the industry designed for installation in high sanitation areas of food packaging plants, and, along with an innovative compact footprint, is able to be placed at the discharge point of primary packaging systems.

JLS Automation: (717) 505-3800 
or visit www.jlsautomation.com

Industrial PCs

Noax Industry PCs support the new IEEE 802.11n WLAN standard. The new standard features faster data transfer rates, better reach, more efficient energy consumption and increased overall security for transmissions. Companies that have, or are planning for wireless network connections for their industrial PCs will benefit greatly from this new technology. In order to maintain uninterrupted transmission, noax Industry PCs have up to three antennas that will receive and send information simultaneously.

Noax Technologies: (704) 992-1606 or visit www.noax.com

X-Ray Inspection Equipment

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the availability of the Thermo Scientific Xpert C400. It is the first model in a line of next-generation x-ray systems for contaminant detection and product inspection. The Xpert C400 combines very high sensitivity with industry-leading durability to meet customers’ needs for increased detection standards. At the same time, it lowers the total cost of ownership for x-ray detection.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.: (800) 766-7000 
or visit 
www.thermofisher.com

Protein Analysis

CEM Corp.’s Sprint Rapid Protein Analyzer utilizes iTAG, a proprietary, non-toxic protein-tagging solution which binds to the lysine, histidine and arginine, as well as the n-terminus, of the proteins commonly found in raw and processed meat. The tagged protein is then analyzed via colorimetric technique and the results displayed as a percentage of protein. The compact, easy-to-use Sprint accurately analyzes protein in a variety of food products in only 2 minutes.

CEM Corp.: (704) 821-7015 
or visit www.cem.com

Industry News

Beef Products Inc. (BPI) announced that the company is expanding its industry leading food safety program by testing for an additional six pathogenic forms of E. coli. This first-of-a-kind action is part of the company’s “hold and test” quality assurance program through which BPI samples its lean beef prior to sale, holds the lean beef, and tests for the presence of pathogens. Only after determining the test results are negative will beef be sold or used for raw ground beef.

“BPI has always been an industry leader in our commitment to ensuring food safety and quality in our beef,” said Craig Letch, director of quality assurance. “BPI led the hold and test initiative and has applied its own rigorous program for more than 15 years, and we are now expanding our testing even further to include testing for these other potentially harmful bacteria. “Our goal is to provide the safest and highest quality beef. Using newly available testing methods, we are able to add tests for these additional STECs beyond O157:H7, which will help us further ensure the safety and quality of our lean beef and that consumers are better protected from potential exposure to these harmful pathogens,” Letch continued.

Cargill opened its new Innovation Center in Wichita, Kan., on Friday, July 15. The research, development, culinary, laboratory, pilot plant and distribution capabilities housed in the building are focused on helping Cargill’s retail and foodservice customers grow their businesses by meeting the needs of domestic and international consumers who enjoy eating meat products.

“This is a discovery zone, a place where the art and science of food intersect to advance food quality, nutrition, meat production, food safety and packaging, while also employing a creative flair in the areas of new product development and finding solutions to meet our customers’ needs and expectations,” said Scott Eilert, vice president of research and development who oversees the facility. “As the name implies, this facility and the people who work here are all about innovation that makes a difference to our customers and consumers who buy from them. We take pride in helping our customers succeed, as well as feeding a world population with an increasing appetite for nutritious, quality, flavorful, safe and affordable protein.”

The 75,000-square-foot innovation center is located one block away from the headquarters of several Cargill businesses it supports. The innovation center also works closely with several other Cargill businesses such as its salt, egg, dressings, sauces, oils and food ingredients groups.

Supplier News

Almarai, a leading Saudi dairy producer, has recently decided to invest a substantial amount of 4 billion SAR (800 million Euro) in its poultry activities. This investment is part of Almarai’s long term vision to take full advantage of the opportunities the poultry market will bring. One of the steps in this investment plan is an order for Meyn-Ishida of a complete Wall to Wall processing facility in Hail, Saudi Arabia. The output capacity of the facility will be 24,000 birds per hour and consists of 16 weighing and packing lines. Howard Davis, Almarai’s General Manager Poultry, said, “With Meyn-Ishida we have selected a dedicated business partner who will deliver a fully integrated processing, packing, and packaging solution. This will enable the product quality we, and our consumers, require, as well as provide an attractive operating environment from both management and financial perspectives.”

Meyn-Ishida combines the poultry processing expertise of Meyn with the weighing, packing and end-ofline knowhow of Ishida to offer a full range of integrated systems and equipment. Since January 2011, the alliance has been awarded several high value international contracts, including fully integrated plants in Russia (Valujki and Tambov), Wipasz (Poland) and Chile.

Handtmann Inc. announced that continued growth in all territories has fueled plans for a new North American headquarters and technology center that will open in the Fall, the realignment of all territories, and the expansion of the field sales team with three new territory managers. These moves are designed to aggressively support closer collaboration with clients who are now operating in more complex buying processes and making decisions that are being driven by the need for faster speeds, greater automation, and more integrated and complicated operational requirements.

“At Handtmann we are committed to ‘ideas for the future’”, Kittle says. “Our success is fueled by traditional Handtmann standards of design, manufacturing, and service excellence, and our team’s professional support of clients during their complicated capital equipment decision making processes.”

Amy James, Southwest territory manager, is a seasoned food processing professional with 13 years of national packaging experience serving local, regional and Fortune 500 processors in that region. She has deep processing industry marketing knowledge and equipment sales experience.

Mario Medina brings 20 years of food processing and packaging experience in the United States and Mexico to his role as Southeast territory manager. Fluent in English and Spanish, Mario’s strong mechanical background and engineering skills combine to let him work efficiently with local and regional processors as well as large multinational operational teams.

Roger Wakeman is the newest territory manager and covers a portion of the Midwest area. He brings 13 years of diverse experience in meat, processing, packaging and capital equipment sales in the stuffing industry to his role.

Gainco Inc. announces the launch of a new corporate website. The Gainco website address remains the same (www.gainco.com), but the site has been completely reworked to make it more user-friendly along with offering significantly more content than before. Among the new content included on the Gainco website is a video library showing various Gainco systems and equipment in operation, along with the ability to identify system solutions based on processing application. There is also an easy, streamlined way to pose questions to Gainco’s sales engineers and explore solutions to processing challenges.

Multivac Inc. has named Mark Snethen regional sales manager for its Food Division. Snethen will serve customers in a sales territory covering Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas. Snethen has worked in packaging machinery and equipment sales for the past 20 years, most recently at VC999 Packaging. He will be based out of his home office in Thornton, Colo. “Mark Snethen is an outstanding addition to the Multivac food division,” says Gregg Poffenbarger, sales manager, Western Division. “His years of experience along with an understanding of processor challenges inside the very competitive food industry will prove invaluable in his consultations with our customers and in delivering the most effective packaging solutions to meet and exceed their expectations. We are delighted to welcome Mark to the Multivac team.”

Ross Industries Inc. has appointed Randy Collins regional sales manager for the company’s Southeast territory. This region includes Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. In this position, Collins will represent the company’s entire line of food processing and tenderizing equipment. Collins brings to Ross Industries many years of national and international sales experience and business development, much of it in the packaging and inspection/detection capital equipment industries. Collins is based in the Atlanta area. Mark Douglas, director of sales, said, “We feel very fortunate to add such an experienced and dedicated sales manager to our company. Randy’s appointment strengthens what is already an exceptional team. His strong communication skills and customer-focused attitude will serve both our company and our customers well.”

Cantrell has hired Chris Truelove as a sales representative in the company’s parts department. Truelove will assist customers with their purchase of Cantrell, other OEM or custom-built parts, as well as provide technical support throughout the process. With 22 years of experience at two large poultry equipment companies, Truelove has developed a thorough knowledge of poultry processing and equipment parts. He worked previously for Cantrell in the assembly and purchasing departments.

Fristam Pumps USA has announced that Luis Mendoza has joined the company as regional sales manager for Mexico and Central America. He will be responsible for Fristam’s distribution network within these countries.

Mendoza is bilingual and has over 30 years of pump and process industry experience. He holds a PE, Chemical Engineering from the University of Guadalajara and an MBA, Marketing and Finance from West Coast University, Los Angeles.

The Middleby Corp. has acquired Danfotech Inc., a subsidiary of SFK systems A/S. Danfotech is a leading manufacturer of equipment for the food processing industry with annual sales of approximately $5 million. Danfotech products include meat tenderizers, tumblers, presses and defrosting systems. With this acquisition, Middleby continues to add to its portfolio of leading brands and expand its food processing platform.

Selim A. Bassoul, Middleby chairman and CEO, said, “With this acquisition, we further broaden our innovative product offering to our food processing customers. The Danfotech line of products complements our existing portfolio of products under the Alkar, Cozzini, MP Equipment and Rapidpak brands. This acquisition further extends our ability to offer unique processing solutions that improve the efficiency and reduce costs of our customers processing operations. We believe there are opportunities to significantly increase revenues of the Danfotech products by leveraging the strength of our existing sales infrastructure and strong customer relationships.”

Provisur Technologies has opened a new Sales and Service office in Indaiatuba, Brazil, and supports Provisur’s significant presence in the region with its systems from Beehive, Formax and Weiler. The site was chosen for logistical reasons, due to its convenient access and location near the Campinas airport that allows for swift moving of inventory.

According to Kevin Howard, vice president, sales and service for The Americas, the decision was a natural one for many reasons.

“The launch of the São Paulo area facility, which follows Provisur’s new location in Bangkok, Thailand, underscores our commitment to bringing improved services to meat and poultry processors in the fastest-paced markets in the world,” he explains. “As processors in the South American region expand their business through growth and acquisitions, we want to be able to offer them the highest level of support.”

The company also announced that it has acquired all of the stock of AM2C SAS and its sister company, Mecaprecis SAS, a leading global supplier of mechanical separation equipment for the food processing industry. AM2C has particular strength in poultry markets and strong distribution throughout Europe and the emerging markets.

Coupled with its existing Beehive business, Provisur now becomes a global market leader in mechanical separation equipment, aftermarket parts and service. According to Provisur CEO, Mel Cohen, “The AM2C brand is a complementary addition to our separation portfolio, enhancing our product offering while extending our global reach. Both companies share a philosophy around growth through product innovation and customer service which will facilitate the integration process.”

“We are truly excited to join the Provisur organization. AM2C will now have access to resources that will allow us to continue to innovate while reaching a truly global customer base,” says current AM2C President and owner, Olivier Kerdiles. Kerdiles will continue to be responsible for the AM2C business as well as assuming a leadership position within Provisur’s overall separation business.

DuPont and AquaChile announced a partnership that will join together the collective innovation and aquaculture expertise of the companies to sustainably raise fish and provide nutritious protein for a growing population.

The partnership began in 2007 with an initial focus on Atlantic salmon. Farming of salmon and trout is an estimated $10 billion business globally and growing 6-10 percent annually due to growing consumer demand for healthy seafood. During the course of the partnership, several new innovations have been discovered in consultation with leading non-governmental organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) through its Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue. The partners have developed a new feeding strategy that dramatically reduces the need for wild-caught feeder fish by 75 percent, as part of the salmon’s diet. It is based on a breakthrough new feed ingredient developed by DuPont.

“DuPont is committed to the evolution of aquaculture. We believe our biotechnology capabilities can accelerate the transformation of this market with more environmentally friendly solutions,” said DuPont BioMaterials Vice President John P. Ranieri. “Our partnership with AquaChile has created innovations that set new standards for the sustainable farming of salmon and we are committed to finding new solutions that will revolutionize the industry itself.”

“Our business model is about continuously working to improve our farming methods, therefore raising the healthiest salmon possible while lessening our impact on the ocean’s resources,” said AquaChile CEO Alfonso Marquez de la Plata. “We strive to raise this new generation of salmon in a way that offers our customers a more consciously farmed fish that will meet their highest standards of taste and quality.”