Automation

‘True innovation is a collaborative effort’

The innovation climate in the Netherlands is under pressure. This is the main conclusion of the Dutch Innovation Monitor 2023 and the headline of a recent urgent appeal sent to the House of Representatives by FME, with s..

Repak uses smartphone principles in new HMI

19 June 2023

You can prevent downtime by making machines as simple as possible. This does not only work in the manufacturing of the machine, but especially in its operation. Repak has therefore designed a new HMI (Human Machine Inter...

KIC call: NWO speeds up AI revolution in agriculture and food

13 June 2023

NWO announces the KIC call "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, Horticulture, Water and Food," expected to be published in August 2023. Researchers, companies and civil society organizations are invited to explore th...

The power of BI for the food industry

13 June 2023

The minimum requirement to become a successful data-driven organisation? That is a modern data platform that can process and translate data from various sources into useful insights. In short: Business Intelligence (BI)....

High-capacity industrial food slicers

30 May 2023

As the world leader in food cutting technology, Urschel is the #1 best-selling supplier of industrial food cutting machines in the world. Urschel designs, manufactures and markets precision high-capacity industrial slici...

Smart robots to make a salad

02 May 2023

Picking and packaging a bunch of grapes with a robot already requires a lot of technology. But it can get even more complicated: automatically preparing a ready-to-eat salad. Researchers from Wageningen University & ...

GS1 and JoinData launch location register for agricultural sector

26 April 2023

GS1 Netherlands and JoinData are teaming up to create a single source for organisation and location data of agricultural companies in the Netherlands. This data will be centrally recorded based on GS1 standards, making i...

High food prices call for sharper management

18 April 2023

Companies in the food chain are facing rising costs due to inflation. Food price inflation rose to a record high of 18.4% in March 2023, while general inflation stood at 4.4%. This is caused by delayed pass-thro...

Roy Meenderink: The key for innovation

11 April 2023

"Are you that old already?" a customer asked me when I recently told them that I have been in the food industry for 38 years. But no, I simply started early. In all that time, I have seen a lot of product innovations pas...

Get a grip on food

11 April 2023

Hardly anywhere is getting a grip on your business processes as crucial, and at the same time as challenging, as in the food industry. This puts a continuous strain on your margins, on processes and on people - and thus ...

The barcode is 50 years old and the 2D barcode is on the rise

04 April 2023

Since its introduction in 1973, the barcode has been on more than 1 billion products. Although this technology has been among us for five decades, a promising future still lies ahead. The next generation of barcodes is p...

Packaging: sustainable versus political gain

06 March 2023

The European Commission is 'through with it': the EU's packaging waste policy has failed. That is why the EU is intervening with new legislation. Which is SO detailed that it is going to have a lot of impact on the food ...

Maarten Cordenier: Forecasting is a human's job

06 March 2023

Um... forecasting is a human's job? You have tools for that, don't you? Yes, but they are only effective if we (as humans) think about this process first. Moreover, forecasting is only a part of the complete S&OP (Sa...

My ERP: Food Management Made Easy

06 February 2023

The food sector is under pressure: there are high requirements for freshness, quality and speed. Moreover, full traceability of products and processes must be guaranteed at all times. Intelligent use of IT for planning a...

Roy Meenderink: Pointing out issues

06 February 2023

You don't hear any different. 'We have to become more sustainable'. You know, it's necessary to preserve our earth. Yet I can almost hear you thinking: "It's all expensive enough. What will it cost me?' You cut ...

How product inspection reduces inflation impact

03 November 2022

Escalating manufacturing costs are proving a challenge to food manufacturers across Europe. Rob Rogers, Senior Advisor Food Safety & Regulation of Mettler-Toledo outlines how product inspection technology can help to mit...