Jan Hron

Mixture design for food packaging in a modified atmosphere

There has been significant development in active packaging systems over the past 20 years. Some packaging concepts belonging to this category were used previously, but in the last two decades, there has been systematic research. Two types of packaging systems with interactive functions are currently distinguished, as described below. Intelligent packaging is used to monitor conditions in the surroundings of the packaged product, and thus provides information about the quality of the packed food during transportation and storage. Temperature indicators and indicators of internal composition of the atmosphere are currently commercially available, along with indicators for the measurement of freshness of the packaged product. A new category of intelligent packaging systems uses elements based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Reducing production variability using factorial optimisation: A case study from the food-packaging industry

Abstract In industry, many phenomena and events that arise that cannot be predicted because they represent changes in production. Such random effects and events can significantly influence all aspects of the manufacturing process. The optimal design of any production system can be generated based on a complete, correct set of input information. However, such a requirement is unrealistic, as manufacturing systems are affected by several random factors. Current practice is based on determining the worst possible conditions in which a production system could run (the longest possible duration of outages in the supply chain, extreme weather conditions in agriculture, etc.). This article aimed to identify factors influencing the variability of the manufacturing process in the field of CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining for food production. A secondary aim was to minimise the variability of the manufacturing process using a factorial design. The variability reduction was verified using statistical F-tests. The study on reducing variability in production was performed at the Czech Yuncheng Plate Making Co., Ltd., a professional rotogravure cylinder–making company. The cylinders are used for the food industry.