Food Manufacturing
Food Manufacturing
U of I food manufacturing team offers a broad range of services to Idaho’s food manufacturing industry. Our team can help grow revenues, improve productivity and performance, and strengthen your global competitiveness. We offer a full suite of services that help processors meet their key process indicators. These services can be in the form of site visits, needs assessments, onsite project work, onsite or online training. All services can be customized to meet the food manufacturer’s needs.
University of Idaho’s food manufacturing team is made up of university faculty, Extension personnel, state and national Manufacturing Extension Partner Organizations (MEP), and internationally recognized contracted partners.
Services
Below is an example of some of the services the food manufacturing team can provide. Contact Janna Hamlett to learn more.
Training
Both open enrollment public courses or courses customized to your product/company are available. We offer several different modalities, including in-person, online, self-paced or online/live instructor.
Sample topics include:
- FSPCA preventive controls for human food — PCQI (preventive controls qualified individual)
- FSPCA intentional adulteration/food defense
- Applied food safety and quality management
- Tools of continuous improvement and root cause analysis
- Intro to GMPs
- Intro to HACCP (general products, dairy products, meat products and potato industry focused)
- Introduction to the importance of understanding microbiological contamination in a food manufacturing facility
- Intro to micro in a food facility for non-microbiologists
- Allergen management
- Understanding the pasteurized milk ordinance
- Intermediate dairy lab methods
- Leadership and conflict management in manufacturing
- Applied pathogen environmental monitoring program
- Applied sanitation programs
- Good documentation practices
- New hire orientation (food and personnel safety)
- Implementing SQF systems
- OSHA 10 general industry
- OSHA 30 general industry
- Requirements of machine guarding and lockout tagout in manufacturing
- Lean topics (leadership, process mapping, 8 wastes, 5S, etc.)
- Lean — white belt, yellow belt, green belt
Food safety
- Gap assessment and client support for regulatory, customer and third-party audits
- Develop food safety plans and programs — both HACCP and preventive controls focused — both FDA and USDA compliant
- Develop food safety and quality programs and policies
- Assist with documentation and form development
- Develop job aids and SOPs (standard operating procedures)
- Troubleshoot sanitation and microbiological issues
- Advice on recalls and customer complaints and relationships
Product and process development
- Commissioning equipment and processing lines
- Advice on construction activities
- Scale up assistance
- Develop shelf-life programs
- Assist with market research, sensory and consumer science
- New product development
Lean/six sigma
- Process improvement using the lean and six sigma tools (Kaizen, 8/9 wastes, Gemba walk, 5S visual workplace, rapid changeover, PDCA, value stream mapping, error proofing).
- Certification programs — white, yellow and green belt
- Leadership and workforce development
- Skill and people development