conveyor safety

12 Simple Ways to Improve Conveyor Safety

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Conveyor safety is essential in a food processing facility.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 39,100 people operated conveyor belts in 2012. These people make sure product loads and unloads correctly, grab product off of a moving conveyor, and align product correctly on the belt.

It’s rare to find a medium-to-large sized food processing facility that does not have people working near conveyors. They are an essential part of any efficient processing plant.

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conveyor maintenance

6 Actions You Need to Take to Ensure Longer Conveyor Life

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Conveyor systems are the backbone of any processing operation – moving product along the processing line from one workstation to the next.

When working correctly, your conveyor system keeps your line moving efficiently. But when a conveyor slows down, or breaks down completely, the whole line comes to a screeching halt – and costs you time, resources, and ultimately, money.

The goal in any food processing facility is to keep your conveyors running efficiently for as long as possible.

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conveyors

5 Reasons to Purchase Fusion Tech Conveyors

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Fusion Tech is a leading designer and manufacturer of custom conveyor systems. Over the last ten years, we have designed countless solutions for a number of food processing industries, including bakery, dairy, candy, meat, poultry, grain and even pharmaceutical processors. Our conveyors are in processing plants across the nation.

But what makes our conveyors so appealing? Here are just a few reasons why food processing companies choose Fusion Tech conveyors for their plants.

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equipment maintenance

5 Tips for Equipment Maintenance

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Getting the most out of your processing equipment is critical for profitability. A slow moving line, unplanned stoppages, and processing delays can result in spoilage of high cost ingredients or products, which destroys your profit margin and can wreak havoc with the integrity of your brand.

Keeping your equipment properly maintained and running smoothly is key to avoiding these unnecessary costs. The following equipment maintenance tips will help you keep your equipment running at peak efficiency to save you time and money.

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ergonomics

Ergonomics in Food Packaging

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Most bagging and packaging operations require employees to stand in a single location and perform repetitive movements all day. Some require heavy lifting or awkward postures to get the final product into its proper packaging – not the most ergonomically sound practices.

While there is no way around requiring your employees to be at a singular packaging station all day, there are a number of ways to reduce the stress, awkward posturing, and heavy lifting that could easily lead to employee injuries.

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packaging equipment

Packaging Equipment to Fit Your Needs

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Many food packaging equipment manufacturers specialize in stock equipment – they design a few models, offer a handful of options, and sell the same solution to every processing and packaging plant they can. It’s a great method of selling equipment – for them. They pump out a few hundred of the same pieces of equipment and sell it as the solution to your needs.

Sure, there are some benefits to purchasing stock equipment. You can see pictures of the equipment on their website, know the exact specifications before you contact them, and have a relatively short wait time before the equipment comes.

But what if your packaging needs aren’t met by their one-solution-fits-all approach? What if you require something more robust and durable? What are you supposed to do about all the supporting equipment to get your food product to their piece of equipment?

Stock equipment isn’t always the route to go.

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shelf life

Food Packaging Shelf Life

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Food packaging has a number of uses – from guarding against contamination to sealing in freshness and increasing the shelf life of many food products. The shelf life of any given product ranges from several days to indefinitely, depending on the type of food and type of packaging used. It may not always be easy to determine the shelf life of a food product just by looking at its packaging, so we’ve put together a table explaining the different types of food packaging and their expected shelf lives.

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bagging

Bagging More Than Just Food

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Bagging stations are fairly common in the food packaging industry. Everything from poultry to meat to breads to snacks come packaged in some kind of bag – making companies in the food processing and packing industry some of the biggest buyers of bagging stations.

But these stations aren’t limited to just the food processing industry. There are a number of uses for custom designed bagging stations in other industries as well.
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meat myths

Debunking Meat Myths

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There are a lot of myths when it comes to meat – especially in the way consumers view the meat processing and packing industry. Hormone injections, health and safety inspection frequencies, the safety of eating processing meat, livestock affects on the environment, and the cost of meat are just a few areas where conjecture, fear, and scare-tactics have caused meat myths to arise.

It can often be difficult for the consumer to determine meat myths from truth, especially when said myths are highlighted in the news and on websites across the world. So how do you accurately debunk meat myths and learn the truth?

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wiu rocky wagon

Rocky’s New Wagon

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Every mascot deserves their own pimped out wagon – and that’s just what we gave Western Illinois University’s mascot Rocky!

WIU approached our team with a pretty custom project: design and build Rocky a mobile dog house that could be used in parades and other big events. It had to provide their mascot with all the creature comforts while being durable enough to last for years. Not only is the house sturdy, it comes complete with a built in air conditioning unit and a dog house must: a personal fire hydrant.

Check out Rocky’s new digs and let us know what you think!

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