APEC Blog

Welcome to the APEC Blog! Your resource for finding insights and equipment solutions for process automation, ingredient handling, weighing and batching, and more. Whether you’re an animal or pet food manufacturer, working in the food production industry, or another manufacturing industry, we cover a wide range of topics to help improve efficiencies, maintain quality, and solve your production challenges.

With a variety of different blog types, we have the resources to support manufacturers looking to streamline operations, reduce downtime, and stay ahead of industry trends. Check out our latest articles below.

9 Inefficiencies in Food Processing Eating into Money and Time

April 28, 2020 Food Manufacturing
Inefficiencies in your operation aren’t always big problems like a machine break-down or product contamination. Though these are certainly concerns, many sources of lost time, energy and resources—and, ultimately, lost money—are a series of small things. These small inefficiencies add up and take their toll…
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Minimizing Risk in Food Processing: Worker Safety, Sanitation and Traceability

April 21, 2020 Food Processing
Safety and sanitation regulations in food processing are very strict, perhaps because the stakes are very high. Ineffective safety and sanitation procedures can put consumers at risk as well as workers. Maintaining high safety and sanitation standards is an ongoing and sometimes arduous process, but…
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USDA Safety and Compliance Requirements for Food Processors

April 7, 2020 Food Processing
Preventing illness and contamination across the food supply chain is a challenging process, with many regulatory bodies involved. It can be difficult to know where the responsibilities of one group ends and another begins. The USDA and the FDA work closely together in different areas…
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Mitigating and Preventing Recalls in Food Processing

March 10, 2020 Food Processing
Food processing plays an essential role in creating the majority of foods for both animals and humans. Ensuring that this process is safe and well-controlled can help to prevent costly and potentially dangerous recalls. Mitigating and preventing recalls in food processing means utilizing good manufacturing…
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8 Industrial Mixer Maintenance Tips to Extend Equipment Life

March 3, 2020 Engineer's Guide
Ribbon blenders, paddle mixers and other industrial mixers are essential parts of many ingredient systems. With regular maintenance, these mixers can continue operating reliably for years. Without maintenance, parts can wear prematurely and lead to unnecessary downtime. Setting aside time for routine industrial mixer maintenance…
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How to Customize Your Powder Feeder

February 18, 2020 Engineer's Guide
A powder feeder can improve your system efficiency by metering the right amount of materials from the ingredient source—such as a bulk bag or another container—into a mixer or another downstream process. Many ingredients can be challenging to work with, and knowing how to customize…
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How Capacitive Load Cells Work

February 4, 2020 Engineer's Guide
What Are Capacitive Load Cells? Capacitive load cells are relatively new to the weighing world, compared to strain gauge load cells, which have been used for decades to measure weight through piezoresistivity. Capacitive load cells use electric charge to measure weight. This, and other important…
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How to Choose a Food Processing Equipment Manufacturer

December 17, 2019 Food Manufacturing
When your food processing equipment works at optimal speed and efficiency, every part of your plant runs better. Choosing the right food processing equipment manufacturer is the first step to implementing the best possible equipment. Consider the following when choosing your supplier and you can…
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How to Use Automation for FSMA Compliance in Food Processing

November 12, 2019 Engineer's Guide
The Food Safety and Modernization Act has set a higher standard for reducing contamination in food and dangers to consumers. Automation has helped to improve FSMA compliance by increasing accuracy and consistency in food processing. Automation allows you to streamline processes and remove human error…
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How to Make a HACCP Plan for Food and Animal Feed Manufacturers

October 15, 2019 Animal Feed
A hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) assessment is an essential part of food safety at every level. The Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) made HACCP assessments and plans more stringent for food manufacturers and processors, with the goal of reducing risk and…
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