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Food & Beverage
Plex Manufacturing Blog
How to Win a Food Fight with the Competition: Yield Management & Materials
Almost everyone loves French Fries. They go with many other foods and are a staple in restaurants around the world. But while many people enjoy them, most never think of what’s involved just to bring those fries to your plate. The process to deliver fries that meet customer expectations is complex. The size of the potatoes can cause excess waste if too small. Blemishes and spots can create…
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How to Win a Food Fight with the Competition: Quality & Compliance
Have you ever sat down at a local restaurant and ordered your favorite meal, only to discover a change in the recipe or ingredients has completely altered the taste? You’re now a thoroughly unsatisfied customer – even if there are plenty of good reasons for menu changes behind the scenes....
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From Reactive to Proactive: Big Data Analytics & Supply Chain Management
Traditional supplier management consisted of spreadsheets, planner experience, and a lot of guesswork.Decisions were made based on dated, error-prone information and human analysis using spreadsheets or old standalone software.This reality forced companies into a reactive position. Because data was compiled and analyzed after events had occurred, there was little planning professionals could do…
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Contents May Settle, But You Don't Have To
Everyone has experienced the disappointment of opening a bag of chips or crackers and looking inside only to see half-empty space. Often, the product contains the cryptic warning "Caution: Contents May Have Settled."Visually, this isn't very pleasant, but everyone knows the content volume is the same. It's just the space between the products affected by the journey from factory to retail shelf.…
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2023 Report Findings: Smart Manufacturing Provides Stability in Food & Beverage
Change is scary - something that’s true for individuals as well as manufacturers. In manufacturing, an industry's steady and predictable growth can allow for stable markets, plannable operational strategies, and precise control....
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Make Compliance a Value-Added Feature of Your Operations
An old saying says, “you can’t fight city hall.” And while this is a bit of a cynical take on working alongside government bodies and other regulatory authorities, it reflects the frustrations of those in manufacturing who must keep up with seemingly endless new compliance requirements.Regulatory compliance is essential to most industries. Product liability, safety concerns, public health, fair…
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From Farm to Factory: How Fertilizer and Material Shortages Affect Food and Beverage Manufacturers
It’s become a perfect storm. Massive disruption of supply chains for food products is becoming a regular threat. Driven by lingering COVID-19 impacts, the war in Ukraine, and other factors, there’s a global shortage of fertilizer....
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The Digital Thread and Regulatory Challenges for Food and Beverage Manufacturers
Imagine an evening newscast about a tainted food or beverage product. Recalls, bad press, and public safety concerns are the immediate nightmares of a food and beverage producer. Once the crisis is fully underway, they may be responsible for the transportation, safe disposal, and rapid replacement of tainted goods, all of which are unplanned costs. This crisis is followed by inspections and…
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Overcoming Challenges in the Food and Beverage Industry
Due to the shift in consumer demand driven by increased pressure from large-scale competitors, direct-to-consumer trends, and an ongoing pandemic, food and beverage manufacturers like you face unprecedented change and increasing adversity. The challenges are many, including pressure for automation to control costs and address labor shortages, the need for visibility into production yield, and…
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Smart vs. Unsmart: Improving your Manufacturing Execution System Journey
When you were a kid, the difference between good and bad was crystal clear. Putting gum in your hair? Bad. Looking both ways before crossing the street? Good. But now that you’re an adult – a professional – the difference between smart and unsmart decision-making is blurry. It’s hard to confidently know that one choice will lead to all the positive outcomes you’re hoping for. Until now....
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