Sunday, April 8
12:30 p.m.
Golf Tournament at Raptor Bay
Sponsored by 
3:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Registration - Estero Ballroom Foyer
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception - Waterfall Pool Deck - Cypress
Monday, April 9
7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Registration - Estero Ballroom Foyer
7:00 – 8:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast - Estero Foyer
Sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:10 a.m.
Welcome - Estero Ballroom
Mark Tisdale, Publisher, Food Engineering
8:10 – 8:30 a.m.
Opening Remarks - Estero Ballroom
The State of Food Manufacturing
Debra Schug, Editor in Chief, Food Engineering
Theme for Day One: Manufacturing in the Digital Age
8:30 – 9:15 a.m. - Estero Ballroom 
Automation Keynote Address: Driving Sustainability through Digitalization, Automation and People Empowerment
Speaker: Vicente Olivo-Espinosa, Director of Information Solutions, Maple Leaf Foods, Inc.
Conserving resources, minimizing energy usage and reducing waste are three cornerstone elements of Maple Leaf's production processes and plant operations. By embracing a digital transformation, Maple Leaf has continued to improve operational excellence and line performance. Attend this session and discover how automated production line and process Improvement strategies can help you to achieve sustainability targets for the coming years.
Presentation Sponsored by 
9:15 – 10:00 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Increasing Productivity and Throughput Using Lean Management Behaviors
Speaker: Mike Bartikoski, Senior Vice President of Operations for Land O’ Frost
Capturing sustainable gains from Lean efforts depends on implementing the activities on the floor AND also changing management behaviors to secure buy in from the front lines to supervisors and supervisors to management. Firms often overlook the significant changes asked of front line supervision and managers to move from directing to coaching and leading. To move from “firefighting” and acceptance of status quo to problem solving and driving to eliminate repetitive issues. This talk will outline some of the steps taken to begin this journey and some of the realizations of changes required.
Presentation Sponsored by 
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Refreshment Break - Estero Foyer
10:30 – 11:15 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Next-Level Craft Brewing
Speaker: Nathan Schroeder, Beer Production Engineer for Bell's Brewing
From selling the first commercial beer in 1985 until its recent expansion in 2016 Bell’s Brewery in Michigan is writing a fabulous chapter of the American craft beer story.
Over the years, new extensions and older plants with legacy automation system were brought under one roof with a state of the art automation philosophy to guarantee an overall comprehensive approach and plant-wide integration. This is also used for vertical integration of data from the shop floor to the production management level. Nathan will elaborate on how Bell’s approached the site automation and the benefits that resulted for the day to day and the long term challenges in brewing
11:15 - 12:00 noon - Estero Ballroom
Ask the Experts: Overcoming Food Safety and FSMA Challenges
Panelists:
Mike Koch, Vice President, Morley Candy Makers / Sanders Candy
Gayan Hettiarachchi, Director of Food Safety, Champion Petfoods
Kelly Goforth, DIrector of Manufacturing, Henrietta / OFD Foods
Joyce L. Watford, Director of Food Safety & Regulatory Affairs, The Eli’s Cheesecake Company
Moderator: Kristen Spotz, Senior Manager of Food Safety and Quality, Grocery Manufacturers Association
From small to large operations, the new FSMA regulations have been introducing new challenges to food and beverage plants. This panel discussion will present some of the obstacles and unique approaches to navigating them.
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - Calusa Ballroom and Foyer
Luncheon
12:00 – 5:30 p.m. - Calusa Ballroom
Expo
Lots of new technology - check it out and you could win 1 of 5 prizes.
2:15 – 2:45 p.m. - Calusa Ballroom
Refreshment Break Stations
Sponored by 
2:55 – 4:35 p.m.
Solutions Theater Breakouts - Blue Heron and Great Egret
Track A - Blue Heron
2:55 - 3:25 p.m.
Driving the Digital Enterprise for Food & Beverage
With today’s quick pace of business, manufacturers need to be faster, flexible and more efficient. But simply automating manufacturing isn’t enough anymore. During this session, we will explore a holistic approach that incorporates Digitalization and new transformational technologies.
Presented by Siemens, Davide Picciotto, Digital Enterprise Thought Leader
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
The Future of Food Manufacturing
Smart manufacturing has the potential to completely transform operations in the food and beverage industry. Learn how best-in-class companies are remaining competitive and capitalizing on a Connected Enterprise.
Presented by Rockwell Automation, Cory Garlick, Food and Beverage Industry Manager
4:05 - 4:35 p.m.
Food Quality- Can You See Everything?
Increasing your overall production efficiency can be easier said than done. In a hectic processing environment, many problems can happen to increase downtime, cause costly ingredient and product waste and affect the quality of the final product. Learn how you can minimize these issues and increase throughput by integrating the latest AI based vision technologies.
Presented by Opto-Engineering, Justin Cardenas and Luca Palleschi
Track B - Great Egret
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Simulations Before Implementation
It is better to perform simulations than to experiment on the real system. Simulation models can be used to depict actual system dynamics that include time, events and the changes that occur over time. They also have the ability to model variability and stochastic events and perform what-if analyses. Learn how simulations can help justify your business case and improve your decision-making process.
Presented by CRB, Niranjan Kulkarni, PhD, Director, Operations Improvement
4:05 – 4:35 p.m.
New Solutions for Plant Sanitation
To ensure products processed at your plant are safe and free of contaminants, food safety standards must be applied. This includes keeping your conveyors clean and removing all the food byproducts trapped in gaps and crevices, which can be a difficult and time-intensive task. Learn how the next generation conveyor drive design can help solve this problem, saving you time and money.
Presented by Van der Graaf, Alex Kanaris, President
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Expo Reception - Calusa Ballroom
Sponsored by 
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Barbecue - Royal Palm Courtyard
Tuesday, April 10
8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Registration - Estero Ballroom Foyer
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast - Estero Ballroom Foyer
Theme for Day Two: Tools for Tracking Modern Manufacturing Challenges
9:00 – 9:45 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Engineering Keynote Address: Gaining Operational Insight Using Data
Speaker: Tracy Walker, Operations Manager for West Liberty Foods
To increase throughput, it is a necessity to fully understand what is happening on the plant floor. This session will discuss technologies and strategies to obtain real-time information.
Sponsored by 
9:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Refreshment Break - Estero Ballroom Foyer
Sponsored by 
10:15 - 11:20 a.m.
Solutions Theater Breakouts - Blue Heron and Great Egret
Track A - Blue Heron
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.
Optimizing Process Efficiency
The adoption of "best practice" standardization within process facilities in order to promote safe and reliable operations is essential. In this session, learn about the conservation of engineering resources to implement these practices.
Presented by Process Industry Practices
Bob Wetter, Senior Automation & Electrical Engineer, Archer Daniels Midland; Philippa T. Coates, P.E., MBA, Project Director, Ambitech a Zachry Group Company; Michael Poehl, Director, Process Industry Practices
10:50 - 11:20 a.m.
Plant Maintenance -The Unpitch: Interact and Gain Insights in Real-time
The tables are turned. Join us for a live interactive session where we discuss plant maintenance, reliability, and the skills gap:you vote, share your thoughts, and gain insights from your peers — we do the listening.
Presented by Simutech Multimedia, Samer Forzley, CEO
Track B - Great Egret
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.
Looking Ahead to More Efficiency Gains
Using less energy can help hit your plant’s sustainability goals plus give you true cost savings. Learn how Permanent Magnet Mechatronic drive systems can deliver a quicker ROI than conventional centralized controls systems.
Presented by SEW-Eurodrive, Chris Wood, Industry Account Manager-Food & Beverage
10:50 - 11:20 a.m.
Digitally Transform Operations with IIoT & Hybrid/Cloud Deployment Models
See how cloud solutions can expand advanced capabilities such as OEE monitoring to areas where such investments would previously not have been feasible.
Presented by Schneider Electric, Keith Chambers, Global Director, Operations and Execution Systems
11:25 - 12:10 p.m. - Estero Ballroom
Manufacturing for Modern Tastes
Speaker: Jasmine Sutherland, President of Perfect Fit Meals and Texas Food Solutions
Consumer demands and needs for food and beverage products are changing rapidly. Today, they want healthier and more nutritional foods. This session will discuss how companies are using HPP to produce more minimally processed foods.
Co - Sponsored by 
and 
12:15 - 1:30 p.m. - Estero Terrace
Networking Luncheon
Sponsored by 
1:30 - 2:15 p.m. - Estero Ballroom
Sanitary Design Principles
Speaker: Matt Henderson, Director of Food Safety for Land O’ Frost
The key to processing safe and high quality food is to ensure facilities incorporate sanitary design principles to all areas of production. This session will cover strategies for hygienic manufacturing, including establishing zones, controlling humidity and more.
2:15 - 3:00 p.m. - Estero Ballroom
Leveraging the Whole Enterprise
Speaker: Samara Heaggans, Director of Commercialization and Enablers for Campbell’s Fresh Division
Leveraging the Entire Network to Improve Quality and Efficiency at the manufacturing plant.
Sponsored by 
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. - Estero Ballroom Foyer
Refreshment Break
3:30 – 4:15 p.m. - Estero Ballroom
Plant of the Year Award
Join us as we honor the 2018 Food Engineering Plant of the Year award winner, Kraft Heinz.
Presenters: Craig Smith, Operations Project Lead, Kraft Heinz
Rob Cubbage, Plant Manager, Kraft Heinz
Sponsored by 
4:15 - 5:30 p.m. - Estero Terrace
Plant of the Year Celebration Cocktail Reception
Sponsored by
DINNER ON YOUR OWN.
Wednesday, April 11
Theme: Sustainability and People Focus
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
FA&M’s Women in Manufacturing and Engineering Breakfast
A diverse food and beverage workforce is a strong food and beverage workforce. We are proud to host a special breakfast, open to everyone in attendance at FA&M, to recognize women in manufacturing and engineering.
Women in Manufacturing Keynote: Creating an Inclusive Culture
Speaker: Dawn Cappelli, Vice President, Global Security and Chief Information Security Officer, Rockwell Automation
Before joining Rockwell she programmed nuclear power plants, worked with the US Secret Service to protect events like the Olympics and Super Bowl from cyber attacks, and worked with government and industry leaders on national strategy issues. Sounds like someone who devoted her life to her career, right? On the contrary, she also was president of the PTA when her 2 children were in grade school, was president of the high school football boosters and tennis boosters, was a girl scout leader, etc., etc. … It was exhausting, but she managed to climb the career ladder in a challenging, competitive field while still devoting significant time to her personal life. In this talk Dawn will use her personal stories to describe how different company cultures influenced her ability to juggle her career and personal life. She will encourage women in engineering and manufacturing who are struggling with that balancing act, and challenge the audience to create an inclusive culture in their companies that enables everyone to make choices and juggle constantly changing priorities.
Syponsored by 
8:30 – 9:15 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Women in Manufacturing Panel Discussion on Strategies to Fix the Skills and Gender Gap
Panelists:
Allison Grealis, Founder & President, Women in Manufacturing
Jasmine Sutherland, President of Perfect Fit Meals and Texas Food Solutions
Kelly Goforth, Director of Manufacturing, Henrietta/OFD Foods
Dawn Cappelli, Vice President, Global Security and Chief Information Security Officer, Rockwell Automation
.9:15 - 10:00 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Driving Innovation
Speaker: Matt Smith, Director of Food for Good, PepsiCo
Consumers today hold food and beverage companies to higher standards and take note of what they not only say, but do. How PepsiCo’s corporate social responsibility program, Food for Good, is finding new ways to create value for the company.
10:00 - 10:45 a.m. - Estero Ballroom
Sustainable Plant of the Year Award
Food Engineering is honoring Dairy Farmers of America for designing and utilizing effective sustainability practices to minimize its operations’ negative environmental impacts.
Presenter: Alan McEntee, Program Manager, Dairy Farmers of America, Garden City
Join us for the presentation and a toast to the award winner.
Sponsored by
11:00 a.m.
Conference Adjourns
