Active and Intelligent Packing

  1. Introduction

The ability to package food has made our lives easier in many ways. Packaging is important to contain foods, protect it from external elements such as adulteration by water, gases, microbes, dust, to name a few, and to disseminate information to customers about the contents inside it. Although traditional packaging covers the basic need of food containment, advances in food packaging are both anticipated and expected to solve modern problems. One such issue is spoilage during transit; It has become a significant area of concern, recently. Even though supply chain and logistics networks has improved rapidly in this decade, innovation in packaging that can detect as well as prevent spoilage of agro-products will further reduce this problem, thereby preventing post-harvest losses. In India itself, post-harvest losses accounts for around 30% of overall agricultural production. This, coupled with erroneous grading while packaging, makes a severe impact on the farmers income. Thus, it is of utmost importance to invest on the research and development of unconventional yet novel packaging materials and technology.

With growing knowledge in polymer and materials sciences, it is now possible to fabricate “intelligent” polymers as food packaging materials with added functionalities that is both useful and necessary. Two such recent advances are Active and Intelligent packaging materials. Active packaging is defined as packaging in which subsidiary constituents have been deliberately included in or either the packaging material or the package headspace to enhance the performance of the package system, whereas in an intelligent packaging, there contains an external or internal indicator to provide information about aspects of the history of the package and/or the quality of the food it contains. In this article, it is attempted to review the current advances in this domain.

  1. Active Packaging

The active packaging systems are developed with the goal of extending the shelf life of foods and increasing the period where the food remains of high quality. These technologies include some physical, chemical, or biological actions which change interactions between a package, product, and/or headspace of the package to get the desired outcome. Active packaging helps to increase the shelf-life of products by using absorbing and diffusion systems for various systems for various materials like carbon dioxide, oxygen, ethylene, and ethanol. Although the active packaging systems change the environmental conditions of the packaged food during the preservation period, but this is very important for preserving the safety and sensory properties along with maintaining the quality of packaged foods. The present systems are O2 scavengers, ethylene absorbers, CO2 absorbers/ emitters, flavor releasing/ absorbing systems, antioxidants, antimicrobials, and moisture controllers. Apart from the present functionalities, research is also being conducted to add these functionalities in edible films appropriate for packaging by adding GRAS-certified ingredients such as biopolymers like gums, and bio-fillers derived from natural substances in the matrix. The common type of active packaging materials are scavengers and antimicrobial packaging.

2.1 Scavengers

Compounds such as oxygen and ethylene affects the freshness of food products. For instance, an increase in the level of oxygen leads to oxidation of the product, thereby making it rancid and stale, and the release of ethylene by climacteric fruits can cause a series of chain-reactions, making the whole lot ripe before it is due. This phenomenon leads to undesired product quality as well as wastage. Therefore, bio-fillers having specific scavenging properties added in the matrix can counter the undesired molecules present in the environment.

2.2 Antimicrobial packaging

Utilization of antimicrobial agents in food packaging is beneficial to prevent the growth of microbes and bacteria that can be found in a packaged food or packaging materials and thus increases the shelf life of the food products. Research carried out in this field show that antimicrobial films are more effective as compared to the direct addition of antimicrobial agents to foods because the antimicrobial agents slowly gets released from the packaging film surface to food products with the required concentration to prevent microbial growth. Some of the common active agents that acts as antimicrobial agents are silver, carbon dots, copper, essential oils extracted from clove, rosemary, basil, fennel, lemongrass, etc.

  1. Intelligent Packaging

Intelligent packaging is an emerging food packaging technology that is improving the traceability, safety, and quality of food. It is described as the science and technology that introduce the communication tools for a food packaging system to monitor changes in the internal and external environmental conditions of the system as well as the packaged food, to communicate the status of the system to the stakeholders of the supply chains including producer, retailers, and consumer. It helps the consumers to make buying decisions, enhances food safety and quality by providing relevant and useful information, including warning for potential problems, to all the elements in the food value chain. Some of the most common intelligent packaging systems are indicators like time-temperature indicator, biosensors, and RFID. The addition of these components makes it possible to report the conditions of both the inside and outside of the package. Sensors can detect if the food inside is spoiled, or stale, TTI’s can monitor the temperature history of a food product, in the packaging to consumption chain, and RFID tag can enable consumers to trace the history of the entire food chain.

3.1 Time Temperature Indicator

It is a well know fact that, the quality of a food material is severely dependent to its temperature history from production to consumption. These indicators can monitor the accumulative effect of temperature on food quality. They are attached on the surface of food packages and integrate the exposure of the packaged food to temperature by accumulating effects of such exposures along the entire cold chain. The working principle of these indicators is based on different enzymatic/ mechanical/ chemical reactions between two or more materials, and as a result, the irreversible discoloration of indicator as an explicit response takes place. Two types of TTI’s are most widely used in food applications:

3.1.1. Diffusion-based TTI: It consists of a layer, and inside of it contains thin layers from paper, film, or glue. When the stored temperature of the food reaches a threshold value, the appearance of the indicator changes, thereby indicating the content inside is not suitable for consumption. This indicator is generally made up of a wick porous with dyed fatty acid ester.

3.1.2. Microbial TTI: Its response is directly related to food microbial spoilage; a correlation is established between the bacterial growth and the metabolism withing the corresponding TTI. One type of these indicators is formed from a label containing lactic acid bacteria.

3.2 Gas Indicator

It is an adhesive label placed on the surface to show changes in the composition of the gas inside the package. These type of indicators shows the presence or the absence of carbon dioxide, oxygen, or ethylene. This kind of indicators needs to be in permanent contact with the food and the atmosphere inside the package to function properly.

3.3 Biosensors

Biosensors are devices that can detect specific biological analyses and converting their presence or concentration into some electrical, thermal, optical or other signals that can be easily analyzed. A typical biosensor consists of three basic components: bioreceptors, transducer, and electronic system. These biosensors can be integrated into the packaging material to detect several components such as ethylene, microbes, etc.

3.4 Radio frequency Identification System

RFID technology presents an advanced data carrier system which has the capability of data storage up to 1 MB, non-contact and non-line-of-sight ability to collect real time data. The advantage of integrating RFID includes traceability and promotion of quality and safety of food. The RFID technology can be applied in the food industry in the fields of supply chain management, monitoring conditions of foods, and ensuring food safety.  

  1. Conclusion

Increasing demand for continuous monitoring of the food quality and extending the shelf-life of food products had led to emergence of developed types of packaging methods as Active Packaging and Intelligent Packaging technologies. These packaging technologies complement the present methods and further add values by adding more functionalities required for modern-day living. 

  1. Further Reading

 

Effective Workplace Cleaning

Cleaning at workplace is an important part. It helps control or eliminate workplace Danger. In clean or organise workplace employee feel happy, healthy or does work with dedication. It has a direct effect on employee’s work. Its leave a good impression on Client also, visiting for meetings.

Cleaning just not only about cleanliness, but it also includes keeping work area neat and clean, floor free of slip and maintaining hall and removing all the waste material. This requires paying attention on important detail such as the layout of the workplace, the adequacy of storage facilities and good housekeeping which is also a basic part of danger, incident, and fair prevention.

Effective cleaning is not only for one time or occasionally it’s Included in daily task for everyone on personal. The practice extends from office to industrial workplace, including factories, warehouse, and manufacturing plants that have its own special difficulties or challenges like hazardous materials, combustible dust. Cleaning should have management, commitment so worker realize its importance. 

  • Purpose of workplace cleaning

                   

  • Housekeeping improve productivity because all employee or workers work in fresh mood or stay safe or healthy and help prevent injuries and moral or decrease the illness of workers.
  • It can help make a good impression on visitors, Safety consultant for the workers’ compensation.
  • Every worker should play a role in clean, even if that means keeping his or her own workplace clean.
  • If the Goods place on the right place, then it will not take too much tome to finding them. If any item or goods is out of stock, then we can order on time.

Poor Housekeeping like tripping over loose objects here and there on floors, stairs and platforms, being hit by falling object, misplace material looking disorderly, In factory equipment in poor condition, these can be cause of a variety of incidents.

For avoiding these hazards, it must maintain order throughout a workday. It’s not a single person responsibility It’s a teamwork.

  • How we can do workplace cleaning:

 a. Avoid slips, trips, and falls

  • Report to all and clean-up spills and leaks
  • Keep exits clean of objects.
  • For help with blind sport installing mirrors or warning.
  • Replace as quick as much worn, ripped and damage flooring.
  • Install anti-slip floor and use mats, platform mats

b. Dust Control and Pest Control

  • Vacuuming method or Use Sweeping and water wash for cleaning
  • Blow-Down using compressed air for unreachable or unsafe area.
  • Clean wall, ceiling machinery and other place regularly.
  • Use pest control spray fog every week or month.
  • Don’t throw waste who produce mosquito or other type of pest.

 c. Tracking materials Avoid

  • Work area mats should be clean which help prevent the spread of hazardous.
  • Use different mop for different type of dirt, like for cleaning oil, dust, water.

d. Material Store Properly.

  • Storage should not have an accumulation of material that present hazards, fire, or pests.
  • Maintain manufacturing floor, maintenance area, storage, or warehouse, or that area which create problem with storage.
  • Unused equipment or material stored out of the workers reach or avoid workplace as a storage.

e. Safety falling objects

  • Place all object in proper manner for avowing to falling on employee or workers
  • Keep all big box or object on lower shelves and keel all equipment away from desk or table.
  • Keep clean or empty the area where workers walking regularly.

f. Use and inspect personal protective tool

  • Wear safety summons like safety gloves which is protected by broken glass or other harmful waist, safety clothe and shoes when work with electric equipment or Glass when doing dust’s work.
  • Regular inspect for clean and fix tool, remove as soon as possible if find any damage on work area 

g. Determine Frequency

  • All workers should take participate, at least keeping own workplace clean.
  • If anyone seen anything which create any problem, then informed
  • In the end of shift everyone needs to check or remove unnecessary material from workplace.

 


h. Eliminate Fire Hazards

  • Keep materials in the workplace which is needed for job. Unneeded material moved in relative storage.
  • Quick burning or flammable material put on designated area away from ignition source.
  • Don’t go close in contaminating cloths with flammable liquids.
  • Keep free passageways and fire door for emergency.
  • Don’t store any item on stairwells.
  • If any issue is coming in electrical area, put warning or fix them on priority.

 

  • How we can plane on Workplace

 

  • Use dustbin near Desk and throw Different waste in different Dustbin.
  • Clean desk daily, check all electric equipment on daily basis.
  • If working in Factory, then clean all took or equipment after use.
  • Check all machine before and after use. It reduces the incident.
  • Remove unused material or item instantly, it creates more space.
  • Inform Immediately If notice anything wrong with electrical equipment.

 

  • Reference

Change Room and Ante Room in Food Industry

The advancement in process technologies and engineering has made the process of scaling up a food production unit easy and cost-effective. The major concern which prevails in the current scenario is the hygienic and sanitary design for a food factory and its essential premises. Change Room and Ante Room play a critical role in reassuring the focus on quality and hygienic design and ensures to lessen/nullify the contamination from man-material movement.

Changing rooms fulfill the key function of a single entrance to the food production area for all staff, workers, visitors, contractors, etc. to minimize product cross-contamination. It serves as an area where:

  • Employees can store external clothing and personal effects
  • For maintaining personal hygiene and structured entry sequence by practicing the use of PPE (personal protective effects)
  • Facility for cleaning and laundering industry clothing and footwear’s
  • Segregated toilets from food production areas etc.

As far as possible, all employees, including senior management, production operatives, technical/ office staff, and the cleaning and maintenance operatives should enter the food manufacturing areas of a factory through the same single entrance and follow the same changing and hygiene procedures.

Requirements on Hygiene & Sanitary Practices

Changeroom and Ante Room are essential requirements in reinforcing the Hygiene and Sanitary practices in any food industry. All processing operations should be carried out in such a way that the risk of contamination of the product or packaging materials by any hazard is avoided. Such hazards may include:

  • Physical/foreign matters (e.g., metal, glass, plastic, insects, dust/dirt, etc.)
  • Chemicals (e.g., allergens, cleaning agents, disinfectants, lubricants)
  • Spoilage/ pathogenic micro-organisms.

Two levels of internal barriers are required for food, dairy, and beverages manufacturing processes:

Non-food production areas: The first level separates processing from non-processing areas. Food production areas should be segregated from non-food production areas such as locker rooms, canteens, utilities, boiler rooms, workshops, machinery rooms, laboratories, offices, meeting rooms, Separation should be by physical means such as walls, sufficient to prevent contamination of food production areas by pests, particulates, gases, and fumes.

Food production areas: The second level separates ‘high-risk’ from ‘low-risk within processing areas. Products range from low-risk – ambient stable, packaged foods. High risk includes chilled and other ready-to-eat foods.

Change Room and Ante Room

Entrance from non-production to production areas is practiced via Change rooms. Entrance into ‘high-risk’ areas is through a further Ante-room specifically designed for high-risk operations (Hygiene station etc.). A single one-way flow of production operations from raw materials at the beginning to finished products at the end minimizes the possibility of contamination.

The level of air cleanliness as design specification of the air handling system reduces the risk of cross-contamination of high-risk product and hence, these areas may suitably have Heating and Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC for+ pressure) and airlock provided in between low & high-risk areas for the upkeep of hygiene. Air shower/curtains may be provisioned before entry to the high-risk processing sections such as the Cheese section, Infant food section, etc.

It would be better to provide a swipe card system or rack, indicating the total number of persons entering or present inside the respective section/plant. The facility should be designed such that the movement of employees, visitors, maintenance personnel, and contract workers throughout the facility is controlled in a manner that does not contribute to potential cross-contamination.

Functional requirement of Changing room

A changing area is necessary to provide basic privacy i.e., separate areas for males and females with separate washroom facilities with proper ventilation.  The basic requirements of a changing room are:

  • Air Curtain to be provided as a barrier between external side and Changeroom 1.03 Self-closing doors, proper lighting, and ventilation.
  • First aid kit to be made available.
  • The informative boards/poster about required personal hygiene practices and fire/emergency exits to be displayed.
  • Cross-over barrier/bench provided before entry into production area from the change room.
  • Work clothing should be changed at the entrance of the unit and given to the laundry at the end of the day. Employees should not come to work (from home) in their work clothing nor launder their work clothing themselves.
  • Open lockers to store outside footwear.
  • Provision of individual storage facilities, e.g., lockers, is required to ensure that staff’s outdoor clothing and personal effects can be securely stored for the duration of their work period. As staff’s personal effects may be contaminated, they also need to be stored separately from their Work clothing.

  • Before putting on factory clothing, the staff is required to undertake hand hygiene procedures to reduce the risk of cross-contamination to the food manufacturing area. This requires the provision of hand-wash sinks with detergent and hand drying facilities.
  • Hand washbasins to service a single hand wash. Hand washbasins must have automatic or elbow/foot-operated water supplied at a suitable temperature.
  • Suitable hand-drying equipment, e.g., paper towel dispensers or hot-air dryers. Closed-circuit television (CCT)/cameras/sensors as a potential monitor of hand wash compliance may be installed.
  • Changing rooms may have a definite barrier, which divides the external side of the changing room from the food manufacturing area. This barrier can be a simple line on the floor or a bench that operators can sit on when applying footwear cover before swinging their legs over into the food manufacturing area.
  • Open lockers at the barrier to store low-risk footwear/industry footwear/foot cover.
  • Ensure availability of Sanitizer dispensers adjacent to the high-risk production area.
  • After processing activities, facilities are required to hold used industry clothing either for laundering/cleaning and discard PPE (disposable– mask, gloves, hair net, etc.).
  • An area designed with suitable drainage for boot washing operations.

Ante Rom/Ante Area

Engineering proper HVAC systems for critical environments often involve distinct areas of room pressure control and directional airflow. An anteroom between a primary room and corridor ensures a safe airflow buffer zone between the controlled pressurized space and an unclean area. The two spaces are separated by a completely walled area with a door. However, in some applications, an ante area without walls or a door can achieve the same effect.
An ante area is a buffer zone of laminar or displacement airflow near a clean work area, such as a pharmaceutical compounding space. There is no physical separation between a gowning or wash area and the compounding area. Instead, proper placement of supply and exhaust airflow devices provides sufficient air velocity to sweep particles away from the compounding area and maintain unidirectional airflow during operations.

Hygiene Stations for High-risk food processing areas

The most important factor for planning the Hygiene station is the number of employees who must pass through the Hygiene station. The basic equipment of a Hygiene station includes:

  • Hand washing and hand disinfection devices.
  • Sole cleaning and sole disinfection equipment.
  • Shaft cleaning and shaft sole disinfection devices.
  • Hand drying system.
  • Non-contact sensor-controlled soap dispenser: doses an adjustable amount of liquid hand cleaner for hand cleaning.
  • Non-contact sensor-controlled hand wash basin with hot water supply is activated by a sensor for an adjustable time, integrated with paper towel dispenser followed by a hand dryer.
  • Non-contact sensor-controlled hand sanitizer dispenser for 2- hand wetting, doses an adjustable amount of disinfectant into the hands for better hygiene.

 

 

 

Personnel hygiene regimes are critical in reducing the potential for food contamination incidents. Whilst much can be done to design suitably hygienic and cleanable changing rooms and equipment that facilitate these regimes and allow them to minimize cross-contamination to operatives and the environment, the success of such regimes is still dependent on the actions of the operative. Future changing room designs, therefore, must concentrate on aiding the compliance and consistency of implementing these personnel hygiene regimes, perhaps by incorporating the results of psychological assessments as to why operatives do, or do not, undertake tasks.

References

 

  1. https://www.gotopac.com/art-cr-cleanroom-design-10-steps
  2. https://www.setra.com/blog/difference-between-anteroom-and-antearea
  3. https://www.setra.com/blog/what-is-iso-14644-1-cleanroom-classification
  4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286424210_Design_of_food_factory_changing_rooms
  5. https://cleanroomtechnology.com/news/article_page/How_to_design_the_food_cleanroom/170893
  6. https://www.dairyknowledge.in/sites/default/files/pdfs/Guidance_document_Change_Room_Design.pdf
  7. file:///C:/Users/pmg20/Dropbox%20(PMG)/Personal%20Folders/0.%20Reading%20Materials/smith2011.pdf
  8. https://blog.gotopac.com/2019/04/17/gowning-room-design-guidelines-anterooms-and-iso-classification/
  9. https://sci-hub.ru/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286424210_Design_of_food_factory_changing_rooms

 

   Cable & Its Types

Cable is assembly of two or more than two conductor in running side by side or bundled form. It is used in building wiring and used in industry and commercial places to aim of transmit power or signal from one to another, and it is very important to install wire of good quality otherwise it would burn down. It is very careful about selection of cable according to requirement. There are many types of cable that are found in market according to use like there are also communication cable used to transmit low power signal and for uses of electronic signal purposes and Fiber optical cable used for optical data through light source to receiving devices and  the cable which is used to transmit electric power is called Power cable.

  1. Basic parts of power cable: –
  • Conductor

Copper and aluminum are used as a conductor material in cable because of higher electrical conductivity solid or number of bare wires either made up of aluminum or copper to make a power cable.

The number of wire strands in conductors are 7, 19,37,61,91 etc. The size of conductor is represented by 7/A, 19/B, 37/C and so on, in which first represent the number of strands and second represent like A, B, C, represent diameter of individual wire in cm or mm. 

  • Insulator

Most used insulator in cable like insulated like poly vinyl chloride, impregnated paper, butyl rubber, cross linked polythene but paper insulated cable is preferred because of their high current capacity and generally reliable and having a long life.

The insulator must have following properties: –

  1. It must have high resistance so that it does not allow current flow in it.
  2. It must have high dielectric strength so that it does not allow any leakage current.
  3. It has high mechanical strength so that there is less chance of breakdown
  4. It must be capable of operating at high temperature
  5. It should have low thermal resistance.
  6. It should have low power factor.
  • Inner Sheath

It basically used for protecting the cable from moisture because moisture evaporate the property of insulation. It made of lead alloy, and these strengths withstand the internal pressure of pressurized cables. The material should have nonmagnetic material in inner sheath. In power cables there is an aluminum sheath is used because it is cheaper, smaller in weight and high mechanical strength than the lead sheath.

When there is an underground cable then protection from corrosion or electrolyte we use material like hessian or PVC.

  • Armouring

 Armouring is done by galvanized steel wire, or two layer of metal type are applied over sheath for protecting it from mechanical damage. The steel wire nis normally used because it has high longitudinal strength.

  • Oversheath

It gives the mechanical strength to cables. It protects from all over damage like moisture, corrosion, dirt, dust and so on. The thermoplastic material is used making over sheath.

  1. Types of Cable   
  • Ribbon Electric Cable

It consists of multiple insulated wiring running parallel with one another and used for multiple data transmission like this is used to connect the CPU with motherboard. And are generally used for interconnection of networking device.

     

  • Shielded Cables

It consists of one or two insulated which are covered by a woven braided shield or aluminium foil for better signal transmission and removing irregularities in frequency and power and external interference in radio. These cables are also used to transmit high voltage and are protected by shield.

 

  • Coaxial Cable

It consists of solid copper or steel conductor plated with copper which is enclosed in the metallic braid and metallic tape. This is entirely covered by with an insulated protective outer jacket. These types of electric cable are used for computer networking and audio video networking. It is used in telephone trunk line, broadband internet, high speed computer data busses, cable television and connecting radio transmitter.

 

  • Twisted Pair Cables

It has two or more insulated copper wires which are twisted with each other and are colour coded. These are used in telephone cable and resistance to external interference can be measured by number of wires.

 

  • Fiber Optical Cable

These types of cable are used to transport optical data through light source to the receiver. It is assembled similar to electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibre that are used to carry light. These optical fiber elements are typically individual coated with plastic layer and contained in protective tube suitable for environment

                                              

  • Instrumentation Cable

These are flexible and shielded cables for transmission of signal between equipment in industrial installation. Especially suitable for optimum data transmission with high level of electromagnetic interference.

                            

  • Underground Cable

Underground cables are employed to transmit and distribution of electrical power where there is impractical to use overhead transmission line, or this is used in congested area where there is impossible to use overhead transmission line. There are kind of cable used depend upon voltage level and service requirement. Underground cable consists of a central core or more than two or three core made of copper or sometime uses of aluminium and insulated from each other by impregnated paper and metallic sheath is provided to protect insulation from moisture.

Types of cable used in any particular location depend upon its mechanical strength and voltage level.

According to voltage level, there category can be divided.

Types of cable

Operating voltage

Low voltage cable

             Up to 1KV

High voltage cable

             Up to 11KV

Super tension cable

             Up to 33KV

Extra high-tension cable

             Up to 66KV

Extra super voltage cable

             Up to 132KV

 

 

  1. Selection of Cable

For consideration of cable for correct size and for type of application, some factor to be considered such as following:

  • System voltage
  • Current carrying capacity
  • permissible voltage drop
  • Short circuit rating
  1. References 

 

 

  Electrical panel and Its Type

 

Electrical panel is a combination of electrical devices which uses electrical power to control various mechanical function of industry equipment or machinery.

 An electrical panel includes two main categories

  1. Panel Structure
  2. Electrical component

Panel structure

The structure of an electrical panel is a combination of enclosure and back panel.

The enclosure a type of metal box which varies in size and is typically made of an aluminium or stainless steel. The number of doors usually one or two needed on enclosure. Enclosure have following properties like waterproof, dust proofing and indoor and outdoor use purpose and Hazardous condition rating and back panels a sheet mounted inside the enclosure that provide structure support for DIN rail mounting and wiring ducts.

Electrical component

There are eight types of mainly electrical component within an electrical panel enclosure which define and organize a several different functions carried out by panel.

This component includes:

    1. Main circuit breaker
    2. Surge arrestors
    3. Transformer
    4. Terminal blocks
    5. Programmable logic control
    6. Relays and contractors
    7. Circuit breakers
    8. Human machine interface

Types of Panels

  • HT panel

 

HT Panel are generally used to supply power to various electrical devices and distribution board. HT panels are installed for both outdoor and indoor application mostly used in every substation for controlling the power flow.

  • Power control center panel

It take directly supply from transformer and used to control power supply in large industry as well as commercial units. The power supplied into heavy machineries, equipments , transformer are controlled according to need of electrical load using these PCC panels. It is used in every industry like chemical, plastic, paper, power, oil, and natural gas, dairies. The main function of panel is to protect and control power distribution for large manufacturing industries.

  • Main LT panel

These are used as low voltage panel to obtain power from generator or transformer and distribution electricity to various electrical devices and distribution board. LT panel are designed to function at lower voltage up to 430V with low insulation level.

  • MCC panel

These panels are an assembly of starters, circuit breakers, fuses, relay and variable frequency drive to control drives from center location. It consists of multiple enclosed section having a common power bus and with each section containing combination starter, which in turn consist of motor starter, fuses or circuit breaker and power disconnect. Motor control center also includes push button, indicator, variable frequency drive, logic controller and starters and metering equipment. These panels are used in large commercial building, industry and where there are multiple drives that need to be controlled from a central location, such as mechanical room or electrical room.

Reference

https://www.squareone.ca/resource-centres/getting-to-know-your-home/electrical-panel

 

 

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Equipments in Warehouse

The world is in a global business right now. Plenty of goods from electronics to consumer goods to food are traveling from New Zealand to America, from Africa to China, etc. on a day-to-day basis. Some goods move slowly, others move very quickly, but it all must move. And they need to be stored in some place or other in between the movement.

Warehousing is the process of storing physical goods before they are sold or further distributed. Warehouses safely and securely store products in an organized way to track where items are located, when they arrived, how long they have been there, and the quantity on hand.

Importance of Warehouse Equipments

Warehouses store almost everything we eventually own, from food and clothing to furniture and electronics. They are diverse and can range from a small stocking room in the back of a business to a multi-thousand square foot area. Because size and functionality differ so much in warehouse buildings, the types of equipment needed for a smooth operation may vary as well.

The right equipment in right place in a warehouse will not only ease the flow of goods through each process area but will also reduce the possibility of injuries and product damage. One can have the best manpower to streamline the warehouse operations, but it is the equipment that plays a pivotal role in assisting humans to complete a task efficiently.

Contribution of Warehouses in Profit

Warehouses contribute to the profitability of a company in many aspects.

  • They can be used to buffer inventory to smooth out fluctuations in supply and demand. This is essential for maintaining a good customer relationship.
  • They may be used in building up investment stock. Some commodities like coffee, pepper, etc. whose prices fluctuate on a global scale can be stocked and then sold when the price is favorable.
  • A warehouse also assists in the most effective use of capital and labor within the manufacturing and supply units. It helps to keep overtime charges down and allows a company to buy and stock more supplies when prices from the supplier are more favorable.

Some Necessary Warehouse Equipments

  1. Dock Equipments

A loading dock or loading bay is an area of a building where goods vehicles (usually road or rail) are loaded and unloaded. Dock equipments ease out the processes of loading and unloading. Choosing the wrong dock equipment can put employees at risk. As the docking area is the junction of the receiving and shipping processes, its safety should always be the top priority.

As truck designs keep changing and safety is becoming a huge issue, selecting the right dock equipment can make the process more efficient, customizable, and safer as well as less time-consuming for workers. Types of dock equipments include:

  • Dock Boards and Plates
  • Edge of Dock Levelers
  • Dock Bumpers
  • Yard Ramps
  • Wheel Chocks
  • Dock levelers & Dock Lifts
  1. Conveyor

A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. They can speed up and/ or automate the process to save time and labour. Conveyors reduce human intervention, so they can reduce the risk of injuries. They can be expensive, but their benefits will overrule their expenses. Types of conveyors are:

  • Belt conveyors
  • Flexible conveyors
  • Vertical conveyors
  • Spiral conveyors
  • Pneumatic Conveyors
  • Chain conveyors

  1. Storage Equipments

The right selection of storage equipment will help to efficiently use the space of warehousing. It will also help in easy identification and reduce the damages. The most common storage equipments are:

  • Carousel
  • Racks
  • Shelves
  1. Lifting Equipments

They are different types of machines that help streamline transportation and storage of goods. They should be stable and adequate for the goods which are to be transported. The selection of lifting equipments should be done only after considering the type of inventory. Types of lifting equipments are:

  • Forklifts
  • Pallet Jacks
  • Hand Trucks
  • Service Carts
  • Cranes, Hoists, and Monorails
  • Dollies and Castors
  1. Packing equipments

Packing is one of the most important steps in the storage and transportation of any goods. Involves wrapping a product or designing a container to provide protection and ease off the transportation.

Packing equipments assist the staff in packing faster and increases the productivity. They also reduce labor costs and provide consistency in the wrapping process.

Types of packing equipments are:

  • Industrial Scales
  • Strapping and Banding Equipment
  • Stretch Wrap Machines
  • Packing Tables

Warehouses are an essential element in almost all businesses. However, the size of a warehouse may vary according to the business. A modern warehouse is composed of machines and humans working together to accomplish an array of processes and tasks. The warehouses are getting advanced and complex each day with the addition of artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics. So the maintenance and management of warehouse have become an important factor in the modern business.

Reference

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_dock
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conveyor_system
  3. https://www.shopify.in/encyclopedia/warehousing
  4. https://www.oberlo.in/ecommerce-wiki/warehousing
  5. https://www.logisticsbureau.com/about-warehousing/
  6. https://articles.cyzerg.com/warehouse-equipment-must-have-list
  7. https://www.sage.com/en-us/blog/glossary/what-is-a-warehouse/
  8. https://www.lencrowforklifts.com.au/news/different-types-of-material-handling-equipment-used-in-warehouse/
  9. https://www.douglasequipment.com/blog/top-14-material-handling-equipment-items-to-increase-efficiency-in-a-warehouse/

 

Impact of Climate Change in Food Processing

The term “weather” refers to how the atmosphere behaves in a specific area over a short period of time, usually hours or days. “Climate” refers to general weather patterns over a broad area for a long period. Both weather and climate account for qualities like temperature, precipitation, and humidity.

Both climate and weather are often used together. But climate is different from the weather because it is measured over a long period of time, whereas weather can change from day to day, or from year to year. The climate of an area includes seasonal temperature and rainfall averages, and wind patterns. Different places have different climates. Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. Climate change could refer to a particular location or the planet as a whole. Climate change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable.

These unexpected weather patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on farming because expected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on. Climate change is a natural process that is undergone on the planet from its beginning. But the problem we are facing now is the accelerated rate of climate change due to human intervention.

What Causes Climate Change?

Global Warming is one of the major causative issues for climate change. Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases that remain semi-permanently in the atmosphere and do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are described as “forcing” climate change. The major gases that contribute to global warming are: Water vapor, Carbon dioxide, Chloro-Fluro carbons, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.

The causes of these rising emissions are:

  • Burning coal, oil, and gas produce carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
  • Cutting down forests (deforestation). Trees help to regulate the climate by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. When they are cut down, that beneficial effect is lost and the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect.
  • Increasing livestock farming. Cows and sheep produce large amounts of methane when they digest their food.
  • Fertilizers containing nitrogen produce nitrous oxide emissions.
  • Fluorinated gases are emitted from equipment and products that use these gases. Such emissions have an extraordinarily strong warming effect, up to 23,000 times greater than CO2.

Food And Climate Change

A stronger greenhouse effect will warm the ocean and partially melt glaciers and ice sheets, increasing the sea level. Ocean water also will expand if it warms, contributing further to sea-level rise. This will eventually affect the marine species and on a bigger scale, the land available for the production and cultivation of crops reduce on a larger scale unnoticeably which will cause issues in the food supply throughout the globe.

Outside of a greenhouse, higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can have both positive and negative effects on crop yields. Some laboratory experiments suggest that elevated CO2 levels can increase plant growth. However, other factors, such as changing temperatures, ozone, and water and nutrient constraints, may more than counteract any potential increase in yield. If optimal temperature ranges for some crops are exceeded, earlier possible gains in yield may be reduced or reversed altogether.

Climate extremes, such as droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures, can lead to crop losses and threaten the livelihoods of agricultural producers and the food security of communities worldwide. Depending on the crop and ecosystem, weeds, pests, and fungi can also thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter climates, and increased CO2 levels, and climate change will likely increase weeds and pests.

Finally, although rising CO2 can stimulate plant growth, research has shown that it can also reduce the nutritional value of most food crops by reducing the concentrations of protein and essential minerals in most plant species. Climate change can cause new patterns of pests and diseases to emerge, affecting plants, animals, and humans, and posing new risks for food security, food safety, and human health.

The extent and degree of warming are going to get more severe. As carbon emissions continue and those which are built into the climate system take effect, temperatures across the world are expected to increase between 3-5 degree Celsius by 2100. India is among the countries which are likely to bear the worst of a warming planet due to its tropical location and relatively lower levels of income.

The global population is expected to increase from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. According to the United Nation’s World Population Prospects (June 2019), the Indian population is projected to increase from 1.36 billion in 2019 to 1.5 billion by 2030 and 1.64 billion by 2050.

Scientific Research

The solution to climate change will come from science alone. In 2011, research on the impact of climate change on agriculture and possible ideas to mitigate the risk was started by the Union agriculture ministry, and the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) was launched through the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The primary objective was to develop suitable technologies for production and risk management for crops, livestock, and fisheries.

The research was undertaken at seven major institutions of ICAR across India. NICRA has identified 151 climatically vulnerable districts but politicians in many of these states may be oblivious to this. Research on impact assessment on crops was conducted using simulation models for climate projections for 2020, 2050, and 2080. Simulations show that the yield of rice in irrigated areas may decrease by 7% in 2050 and 10% in 2080. The yield of maize in irrigated areas of Kharif was projected to decline by 18% by 2020.

The yield of maize did decline in 2018-19 due to low rainfall in several maize growing areas but better rainfall in July and August 2019 may have ensured that the projection of decrease in maize yield may not happen again in 2019-20.

Research at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal has found that heat stress harms the reproduction traits of cows and buffaloes, and their fertility will be adversely impacted.

Scientists of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute have found that fish species on the east coast may be much more vulnerable to climate change than fish varieties found on the west coast. Climate change will impact ocean current, acidification, temperature, and food availability. All of this will affect the production of fish.

NICRA has projected that rice and wheat in Indo-Gangetic plains, sorghum, and potato in West Bengal and sorghum, potato, and maize in the southern plateau are likely to see reduced productivity. The study also found that the productivity of soybean, groundnut, chickpea, and potato in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh may go up. Similarly, the productivity of apples in Himachal Pradesh may increase. An increase in temperature and rainfall pattern may also result in a lower yield of cotton in north India.

Solutions and Development from India

Scientists have been working hard to breed varieties of different crops that are climate resilient. One such success is Sahbhagidhan, a variety of paddy which was jointly developed by the International Rice Research Institute and Central Rainfed Upland Rice Research Station of ICAR at Hazaribagh. It was released in 2010 and since then, it has gained success in uplands in eastern India in drought conditions. It matures in 105 days while most other varieties take 120-150 days to maturity. Farmers can plant another crop after harvesting this.

IRRI is also breeding a flood-tolerant variety of paddy by manipulating genes to get better strains which can enable paddy rice to survive for up to 15 days of submergence in floodwater. It has identified such varieties in Odisha and Sri Lanka which have a Sub 1 gene. If and when this flood-tolerant variety is released either through breeding or through genetic modification, farmers in flood-prone regions would be keen to accept it, even if activists are opposed to the release of new GM varieties in India.

Research on climate-resilient varieties of wheat, mustard, lentil, chickpea, mung bean, groundnut, and soybean are also under progress in various institutions of ICAR.

What can we do?

When it comes to climate change, the major question that arises in everyone’s mind is that what can a single person do in it. There are many things’ individuals can do in reducing the pace of climate change. Some of them are:

  1. Speak Up:

Raising voices is an easy and most effective solution against any huge problem in the current era of social media. The issues can reach up to the government and policymakers, which is in fact happening now from various parts of the world.

  1. Switch to Renewable energy:

Switching to possible renewable energy sources will reduce the carbon emission in the atmosphere.

  1. Invest in Energy Efficient Appliances:

This is a basic thing which each individual can focus on if he/she wants to take part in climate protection activities.

  1. Reduce water wastage:

Saving water reduces carbon pollution, too. That is because it takes a lot of energy to pump, heat, and treat your water. So, take shorter showers, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, and switch to Water Sense-labeled fixtures and appliances.

  1. Reduce Food wastage:

The food industry uses a tremendous amount of energy per year to feed the global population. Food wastage hence has a drastic effect on climate change. If you’re wasting less food, you’re likely cutting down on energy consumption. And since livestock products are among the most resource-intensive to produce, cutting down the excess meat consumption can make a big difference, too.

  1. Shrink your Carbon Profile:

You can offset the carbon you produce by purchasing carbon offsets, which represent clean power that you can add to the nation’s energy grid in place of power from fossil fuels. 

Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change have typically been responsible for a small share of global emissions, which raises questions about justice and fairness. Climate change is strongly linked to sustainable development. Limiting global warming makes it easier to achieve sustainable development goals, such as eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities. The goals on food, clean water, and ecosystem protection have synergies with climate change mitigation.

References

  1. https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
  2. https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
  3. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming
  4. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/climate-change/
  5. https://thewire.in/agriculture/climate-change-poses-serious-threats-to-indias-food-security
  6. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/how-climate-change-is-affecting-food-production/photostory/71939943.cm
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change#:~:text=Climate%20change%20includes%20both%20global,scale%20shifts%20in%20weather%20patterns.

 

 

Product Hold and Release Program

Hold and release is a process used to prevent products and materials that may not meet specifications from being used until investigations are completed.

In this video lecture, Shimmi Sebastian (Process Engineer) at PMG Engineering introduces the Hold and Release Program along with its importance in industry, its application, categories and many more components.

Global Food Safety Initiative

About GFSI

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is basically a management system which helps in food safety and ensures safe delivery of food to consumers in the world. It is collaborated with different leading food safety experts like retailers, manufacturers, food safety companies and some service providers which are associated with food supply chain management. Some retailers have also identified the need of GFSI like enhancing food safety, ensuring consumer protection, and strengthening confidence in consumer.

GFSI is coordinated by consumer goods forum with almost 400 members. It was launched in Dublin, Ireland on 31st May 2000 at The CIES Annual Executive Congress. GFSI works on fulfilling food safety requirements for food safety schemes through the process known as benchmarking. In 2005 under the Belgian law the GFSI foundation was created as non- profit entity. There are certain objectives, certifications, benchmarks, accreditation, and governance which need to be discussed in this article.

Objectives of GFSI

  • Converges promotion among food safety standards by maintaining benchmark processes for schemes related to food safety management.
  • Cost efficiency is improved by retailers when standards of GFSI is recognized and accepted during food supply chain.
  • Unique international stakeholders’ platform is provided to share the information, understandings, interactions, and knowledge related to food safety standards and practices.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is a procedure in which schemes related to food safety are compared with the GFSI Guidance Documents. Guidance Documents includes key elements to produce food requirements, guidance to schemes seeking compliance, requirements for the delivery of conforming schemes.

Benchmarking process has several applicants going through it and GFSI does not restrict any opportunity for schemes to be formally recognized. There are some benchmark schemes:

  1. Manufacturing schemes
  2. Primary production schemes
  3. Primary production and manufacturing scheme

Certifications

Certification body is basically not a scheme owner to give issuance of the certifications or develop an impact or change requirements of audit. It just carries out the audit as per the scheme requirements. For the issuance of certification, the certification body must submit result to the scheme owner. It is accredited to carry out audits through on program audits. There are different certifications for every individual:

  1. Certified Auditor- SQF, BRC, FSSC22000
  2. Certified Practitioner- HACCP Training Course must be completed, should have proper understanding of SQF Code(s), must qualify “Implemented SQF Systems” exams.
  3. Certified Trainer- must have successful completion of “Train and Trainer” course, training experience in food safety and quality, successful implementation on SQF 2000 Systems, SQF 1000 Systems, SQF Auditor Course.
  4. Approved Training Provider (ATP)- ATPs are professional individuals having working knowledge of food and requires many years of training in consumer products sectors.

Strengths

  • The benchmarking process assures consistency in evaluating content and program.
  • The audits have more review of product control procedures, process control and includes additional elements to personnel.
  • All the non- conformances is to be cleared for the requirement of certification which forces the site to identify issues in order to obtain the certification.

Weakness

  • The documentation emphasizes the Audit.
  • The paperwork emphasizes on food safety program as proof.
  • Consulting is not allowed during the Audit. The auditors are extremely limited in how to improve the information to assist the plant.

 Conclusion

The global food safety initiative is basically a private organization which was established by the Consumer Goods Forum. The GFSI maintains the standards of food safety and ensures safe food delivery. It has certain objectives which maintains benchmarks to food safety management, have improvement in cost efficiency during food supply chain and have a unique stakeholder platform. Benchmarking process is an important role with the help of GFSI Guidance document. There are some certifications which is important for every individual performing the task of GFSI management system.

References

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Food_Safety_Initiative
  2. https://globalfoodsafetyresource.com/benchmarking-gfsi/
  1.  

Factors affecting shelf life of Food Product

After manufacturing of any food products, it retain its desired sensory, chemical, physical, functional or microbiological characteristics. The timeframe till a product can hold these characteristics defines the shelf life of the product.

In this video lecture, Veena Mishra (Process Engineer) at PMG Engineering introduces us to the topic Shelf Life and outlines the various factors influencing the product shelf life.