Conestoga College’s Food Research and Innovation Lab has been prototyping an innovative new training strategy using extended reality (XR) simulations for employees in Ontario provincially registered meat processing facilities.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an alternative to traditional reductive manufacturing processes. Reductive manufacturing processes start with a billet of raw material and remove excess material through processes such as thermal cutting and machining to achieve the desired final shape. A key objective of AM is to minimize the amount of material used by precisely depositing only material that is required, layer by layer, and building a component from the base up as a near net shape.

Wire Arc Additive manufacturing (WAAM) is an alternative to traditional metal manufacturing methods such as casting or the machining of raw billets to produce a desired shape. One option for this ‘3D-printing’ of metallic products using the WAAM process is to apply the metal using the GMAW (gas-metal arc welding) process delivered by a standard 6-axis welding robot.

The bullwhip effect is an extreme change in supply availability in a supply chain generated by a small change in demand, and is exacerbated when the supply network is global and contains hundreds of suppliers.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are the operational and environmental conditions required to produce safe foods. They ensure the environment of food production promotes food safety and that all ingredients and packaging materials are handled safely.