Your mission: To detect any foreign contaminants in your product before they have a chance to leave your processing plant. But which will help you achieve your goal: metal detection or X-ray systems? Metal detection and X-ray inspection have long been the first line of defence for food and beverage processors, but vast improvements in […]
As Dimmeys counts the cost of recalling more unsafe products this month, it begs the question: do you know the cost of a recall to your business? The next question is: do you have the right systems in place to deal with it? It’s difficult to calculate the true cost of a recall; no incident […]
And how does TCO affect Australian manufacturers? The Australian manufacturing industry exists in a highly competitive business climate. This challenges companies to find creative ways of lowering their costs without compromising the goal of producing high-quality products. And all the while, they must maintain the required regulatory and compliance standards. So it’s more important than […]
It might look like an insignificant part of every package, but a product’s bar code is a vital aspect of its manufacture: it enables traceability within the supply chain (from the manufacturer to the end consumer) and facilitates the smooth flow of goods. At Matthews, we’re finding that the nation’s biggest retailers are becoming ever […]
If you’re on the path to leaner quality, then quality control is not just a non-value-adding ‘evil’. We’ve talked a bit about quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) on the path to being “lean”. (See Quality, parts One and Two, and also check out how SME’s can benefit from lean manufacturing.) QC (traditional approach) […]
In Part 1, we looked at how ‘quality’ is one of the biggest issues in food manufacturing, and is the lowest common denominator in the inter-dependent concepts of ‘lean manufacturing’, ‘six sigma’, ‘kaizen’ and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). This time I’m going to look at how to actually meet the ‘quality’ expectations of retailers and […]
Last time, I looked at what ‘lean’ is, and what it isn’t and how the packaging hall is usually a ‘black hole’ of data. Naturally if you can’t see something, you can’t measure it, which makes it pretty tricky to fix. Now I’ll cover exactly how you can shine some light on that black hole […]
Continuous improvement a strong way forward In recent times, Australian manufacturers have faced the challenges of a high Australian dollar, intense competition, increasing interdependence of global supply chains, and shifting patterns of consumption and investment. To continue competing successfully — both domestically and globally — manufacturers must be dynamic, innovative and world-class in their performance and […]