David Strain, technical director at Technidrive, examines the motor and drive technologies underpinning commercial food production and explains how these technologies give manufacturers tighter control across production lines.

Specifying a vision system is rarely the hard part. The real time cost sits around it: choosing the right lens, matching the lighting to the surface, mounting everything so it survives the line, then spending time tuning processing items and threshold values until the OK/NG judgement holds up against real-world variation. OMRON says its new FHV7-AI Detection Camera removes all of that setup pain.

Rockwell Automation has announced its FactoryTalk Analytics VisionAI solution with new VisionStream and VisionLink capabilities, helping manufacturers simplify vision inspection deployment, improve quality control and extend the value of existing vision investments.

ABB has extended its all-compatible drive portfolio with the introduction of IP66 / UL Type 4X rated variants across its ACS580 General Purpose, ACH580 HVACR, and ACQ580 Water and Wastewater drive families.

Belden has announced the release of its new ProSoft Technology ELX3 ProLinx Edge Gateway. This offering unites operational technology (OT) protocol conversion with lightweight, Docker-based edge application hosting on a single ruggedsed hardware platform.

ABB’s LV Titanium Variable Speed Motor (VSM) platform delivers the benefits of an IE5 Ultra-Premium efficiency motor and variable speed drive (VSD) technology in a single, compact, plug-and-play solution. Michele Maggi, R&D Engineer Product Development at ABB, explains that VSMs, now available from 1.1 to 30 kW, enable a wide range of industrial customers to minimise their energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.

ABB is the world's first manufacturer to offer an IE6 Hyper‑Efficiency motor certified to ATEX and IECEx requirements for use in hazardous areas. The new IE6 Increased safety motor, based on ABB's magnet- and rare earth- free synchronous reluctance (SynRM) technology, offers up to 60 percent lower energy losses than the IE3 induction motors commonly used in Zones 1 and 2.

norelem is expanding its portfolio by adding control and monitoring devices with external contact blocks. Designed for the safe triggering of switching commands and the clear display of operating, status, and fault messages, the buttons are used in such fields as mechanical and plant engineering, automation technology, the process and manufacturing industry, and construction technology.

If hot honey and 'swicy' (sweet plus spicy) were the must-try flavour combinations of 2025, then there's no doubt amongst those in the know that this year's (literal) hot food trend is 'fricy', an intriguing mixture of fruity and spicy, says Matt Hale, Global Business Development Director, HRS Heat Exchangers.

Watlow has announced the launch of its Edge Process Management (EPM) platform, a new class of scalable architecture that brings together data management, process control and automation for temperature-driven operations in regulated industries.