Having established the future vision and baseline, the next critical stage for any Improvement programme is to create a robust action plan. This must provide clear direction for everyone involved, have Smart (specific, measured, achievable, realistic/recorded and time-bound) objectives and be closely linked to, and support the achievement of, the vision.

Time waits for no man, and in the food manufacturing industry it is no different. But how have employment and working practices changed over the last 20 years? According to a new survey by interim and project management provider Albemarle, the biggest change has been in the use of contract and interim staff.

Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA) has developed a guide to help food and drink companies prepare for emergencies.

The Food Technology Advisory Service and the Food Processing Faraday Partnership (FPFP) have joined forces to create The guide to food manufacturing management.

Industry analyst Research and Markets has compiled the Ice cream in the UK report to offer businesses an insight into the size and shape of the market at a national level.

Nanotechnologies in the food industry discusses both the performance improvements that nanotechnologies will enable, as well as providing market sizes in key food sectors for

IceSpy UK, supplier of automatic, wireless temperature measurement and logging systems, has introduced an entry level kit for smaller companies.

Sigpack Systems, the Switzerland-based packaging technology division of Bosch, will be demonstrating three of its innovative solutions for food packing operations at the Pack Expo 2006 exhibition.

British Bakeries, which supplies about a third of Britain's daily bread, is keeping its Birmingham plant clean and safe with a centralised dust extraction system from Nilfisk-Advance.

Minimised cream losses, greater product control and the opportunity to provide standard fat content in dairy products are all possible with Westfalia Separator's Standomat automatic standardising unit. Designed for the in-line standardisation of the fat content of milk and cream, the Standomat offers high levels of accuracy and production flexibility.

When French ready-meals maker William Saurin wanted to improve the speed, accuracy and reliability of weighing ingredients into cans, it called in weighing specialist Ishida Europe. Now, instead of weighing high value ingredients by hand for cassoulet, boeuf bourguignon, tartiflette (potatoes with cheese) and coc au vin, the Lagny-sur-Marne factory can automatically weigh ingredients for up to 360 cans a minute.

The new Apex high-performance metal detector from Thermo Electron offers a 20% increase in sensitivity, setting a new standard in metal detector performance.

Warburtons' Blackpool bakery has invested a Russell Finex '3in1' sieving station to screen raw ingredients. The unit replaces an older system, which offered no direct dust extraction or bag rest table for tipping.

The new Tornado drying system from Secomak has been designed to eliminate the dispersion of bacteria commonly associated with processes such as post-pasteurisation in canning lines.

Wire Belt Company of America has developed a wire conveyor belt specifically for the tortilla industry. Engineered to cool tortillas, Wire Belt's TC-327 belt is made of stainless steel with a 76% open surface to give excellent convection and air flow. It will not stretch, sag, or create a fire hazard in high heat operations.

A Vantage recipe management system from Stevens Groups is helping to ensure batch consistency and 100% traceability at Stockport-based Loxton Foods.

Yoghurt maker Müller has invested in a Rose Forgrove high-speed Integra flow wrapper capable of 80 wraps a minute to help reduce labour costs while maintaining output. Over the past five years demand for Müller's products from its Market Drayton plant has grown from 60M to 400M pots a year.

When the outside temperature rises, workers in the frying and packaging area at Indian food producer Pataks Foods no longer feel the heat thanks to the installation of Seeley International Breezair evaporative cooling.

US-based machine vision supplier The Value Engineering Alliance has introduced HueView for the colour analysis of food.

Domnick Hunter's new Maxigas nitrogen generator produces nitrogen from compressed air, so is ideal for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), blanketing and sparging in the food and beverage manufacturing industry.

High performance composite insulation panels from Kingspan Controlled Environments based on the polymer filling polyisocyanurate, are keeping Woodward Foodservice's chilled distribution facility in Witton, West Midlands cool.

Konig, the Austrian supplier of automatic bread-roll equipment, has launched a range of dough laminating and sheeting equipment.

Bradman Lake has launched a fast, fully automatic carton end-loader for food packing operations. The SL903 has a running speed of up to 130 cartons per minute.

Habasit Rossi has introduced a non-stick, lightweight modular conveyor belt for the UK food market. The M1234 Nub Top Flush Grid has an indent of 16mm, making it ideal for small product transfers.

With flavouring increasingly seen as an unwanted additive by consumers, flavourists are under pressure to develop ranges for 'clean label' declarations.

A gourmet vanilla bean paste from Australia is now available to caterers and UK supermarkets.

As more and more manufacturers seek to add functional ingredients to their food, the need for flavour houses to develop products that mask off taints increases.

Reading Scientific Services (RSSL) has added a saliva test to its foreign body identification service. The forensic test, based on detecting the presence or absence of enzymes found in saliva, can be used as a confirmation or challenge to customers who claim to have taken a foreign body into their mouths. The same test can also be used to confirm, for example, whether customers have drunk directly from a bottle, a factor that may also be relevant in substantiating a customer complaint.

The Labguard2 from Don Whitley Scientific is a wireless system that continuously monitors laboratory equipment and automatically alerts the operator to any problems. Easy to use and install it provides the data required for compliance with laboratory regulations including those of the US Food and Drug Administration and Good Laboratory Practice.

Life sciences company EBI Food Safety has established what it claims is the West's first facility for the industrial scale production of bacteriophages for killing food-borne bacteria.

The Food Titrino from Metrohm is a compact titration system offering a complete package for titration analyses in the food industry. Almost 100 determination methods are described in detail and the system uses a liquid crystal display screen for real-time display of titration curves.

Oxoid has extended its range of rapid tests for the detection of Salmonella in foods to include the DuPont Lateral Flow System test kit.

In August, US scientists announced that they had developed the first step on the way to producing portable detectors for a variety of nasty pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox, as well as food bugs.

Manufacturers - and third-party logistics providers - are always whingeing about something, says the outspoken boss of Baylis Logistics. "Yes, costs are going up, prices are going down and margins are being squeezed," says Thomas van Mourik, who left Culina - a company he had built up from scratch - to take the helm at Baylis Logistics last November. "But when weren't margins under pressure? It's like the farmers. Whingeing is part of the job! I guess it's when we stop whingeing that we will know something really is wrong!"

There was once a time when only wealthy Japanese got to try Kobe beef. Reared to age-old methods of beer feed and massage, Kobe cattle took on an almost mystic status. And visiting Japan in person was about the only way to sample this white marbled, soft textured delicacy. But with a climate similar to Tokyo, and a growing gourmet population, the UK has begun its own Kobe production techniques. And now both UK cows and pigs are getting the beer and massage treatment.

With obesity constantly in the news, Britain's food and drink sector has decided to address its own poor health and get leaner - that is, as far as its manufacturing operations are concerned.

Just when it seems that the ideas tank has run dry, some quick thinking development chef always manages to pull a sautéed rabbit out of the hat. But where does the magic start?

Greg Harrison, group manufacturing director, Patak's

I am told by big food manufacturers that innovation in product and packaging design is the key to medium-term profit growth. The message is clear - innovate or perish!

Culina Logistics has set up a dedicated co-packing area at its new Prime Point distribution centre in Staffordshire. The new service will support chilled manufacturers with promotional offers and retailer requirements for specific packaged quantities.

Peter Hunt's Bakery Foods, the Bolton-based savoury products baker, is starting to see the benefits of improved production planning since installing an advanced demand forecasting and planning system. It is just completing the production scheduling part of the installation, but already reports positive results.

Biopolymers with impeccable environmental credentials are too often less convincing when it comes to performance - but a new generation of additives is helping to toughen them up.

Further evidence that retail-ready requirements can stimulate other unrelated improvements is provided by a recently-developed system for cheese, says the creator of the pack.

A new EU proposal to introduce a fixed five-stage waste hierarchy from reduction to re-use, recycling, other recovery options, and only then to disposal, is ruffling feathers among converters and users of packaging.

No significant reduction in the high cost of shaped cans for beverages and food is likely in the near future, canmakers warn. But for some at least, the option of the bespoke 'bottle can' is far more appealing.

As you start to plan ahead for the busy Christmas period, you may also be reflecting on your personal objectives.

As energy costs spiral, initiatives aimed at helping food and drink processors slash their bills should prove particularly welcome.

Superfood is a term which has become well established with consumers. The term, initially associated with produce such as leafy vegetables and tomatoes, is now applied to increasingly more exotic produce.

Following the recent regulations regarding the labelling of foods containing potential allergens, Wallington-based ingredients supplier Thew Arnott is addressing the demand for non-allergenic lecithin solutions by setting up The Lecithin Company.

Food manufacturers' careless use of omega-6 could be partly to blame for rising obesity levels, according to Reading University's professor of animal science Ian Givens.

In a convenience food first, Food Brands Group is launching a self-heating soup: Mini Quick.

Quiche manufacturer Thomas Food Group has invested £3M in a new development programme targeting the premium end of the market.

I always have and always will prefer to purchase British produce. I believe that it is important to support our nation's farmers and growers. And there are now more reasons why food developers must promote British produce.

Steaks are a popular dish worldwide, but eating one on the way to work isn't ideal, or is it? Meat snack manufacturer Jack Link's, has launched the UK's first ready-to-eat Steak Bar.

Culinary Innovations' new Gourmet Seasoning Spice Sheets mean you don't have to be a whizz in the kitchen to cook up a flavoursome dish.

Tea may have been drunk for hundreds of years, but Daily Grind Imports have come up with a modern take on an ancient tradition, in the form of the Novus collection, which offers loose tea in a pyramid-shaped nylon bag.

Tangerine Confectionery aims to get mouths watering with its new Anthon Berg Rémy Martin Handmade Liqueur Fudge.

Sexing up a product has become a cliché within the industry as manufacturers strive to appeal to consumers. But Devon firm Feeding Your Imagination (FYI) has gone the extra mile and developed a range of chocolate to make consumers feel Sexy, Sensual and Dreamy, literally!

Sharwood's, a key player in ambient sauces, is to plunge itself into unknown territory with a range of chilled Asian sauces.

Over the years, there have been several occasions when the European Commission has decided to repeal or replace EU legislation that did not work.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to prepare a list of information that should be included on food labels to help consumers make informed choices as part of the EU's food labelling review, which is expected to result in new proposals next year.

A scheme to redistribute surplus and waste food and drink is being extended to cover more fresh food companies just months after its launch.

The International Union of Food Workers (IUF) has challenged Nestlé's proposal to switch production of key lines from its York factory to other sites in Europe, with the loss of 645 jobs. Earlier this year, Nestlé announced an initial cut of more than 200 jobs in York.

Manufacturers may soon be able to cut acrylamide in potato products using a computer model which assesses levels of the potential carcinogen throughout the production process.

Lightbody Celebration Cakes is opening a purpose-built factory at Louny in the Czech Republic next spring to boost its presence on the Continent.

A group of young food and drink employees in Scotland has become the first to complete a training programme designed to raise skills in the industry.

Irish group Greencore could start manufacturing in the US as it refocuses its businesses and becomes less dependent on own-label supplies to the major UK supermarkets.

Premier Foods has called off talks with United Biscuits over the potential purchase of its UK and Ireland biscuits and snacks business.

Tate & Lyle chief executive Iain Ferguson is the new president of the Food and Drink Federation.

More than a quarter of people injured while working in manufacturing were using a machine at the time and a third said they had no health and safety training, according to an AXA Insurance survey.

The Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes has again called for more information before deciding whether to give Unilever the green light to sell products made using a genetically modified 'anti-freeze' ice structuring protein in Europe.

The fresh produce industry has sprouted the first international forum on food standards with the UK's Fresh Produce Consortium among its founding members.

European food safety experts have given the trendy berry juice noni a clean bill of health despite claims that it had caused acute hepatitis in some drinkers.

About 600 GMB union members at Moy Park's chicken processing plant at Anwick, Lincolnshire have won a 9% pay rise after the firm was faced with a strike and employment tribunals over proposed changes in work practices.

Processing workers' hands are likely to be contaminated with high levels of micro-organisms, up to half of which are readily transferred to food, according to Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA), which is looking to launch a hand hygiene project.

A group of food manufacturers, retailers and academics will visit China next month to identify ingredients and technologies that could be applied to the UK's functional foods industry.

Environmental group Greenpeace claimed that a third of the fish sold through Unilever's Birds Eye brand - currently being bought by Permira - was "stolen" from the Baltic or Barents seas. The attack came as Sainsbury announced a colour-coding scheme to highlight endangered species.

Dairy Crest is to sell the majority of its own-label cheese operations to the farmers' co-op First Milk in a £61.9M deal.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has hit out at allegations that it is not dealing with potential breaches of European food law consistently because it failed to call for a withdrawal of products containing a strain of genetically-modified (GM) rice known as LL601.

Employers are vulnerable to the risk of legal claims under age discrimination legislation which comes into force this month, experts have warned.

Northern Ireland's biggest baker, Allied Bakeries Ireland (ABI), is investing £6M to expand its Belfast business, with the creation of 18 new jobs.

Robert Wiseman Dairies, which faces potentially large penalties after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was one of six Scottish dairies fixing prices and market shares, said that its sales volumes and turnover in the six months to September 30 were "slightly above forecast".

United Biscuits has told more than 600 contractors that from January they must have the food and drink industry's safety passport to be allowed to work on all its UK sites. The move is intended to improve the management of workplace hazards across all its UK sites.

Wellness Foods, a health food firm which bought Rowse Honey last month for £6M, promised expansion of Rowse through innovation and investment. Stuart Bailey remains md of Rowse, which employs over 100 people and had sales of £35.6M in the year to September 30.

Confectioner Thorntons reported a pre-tax profit drop of 36% in the year to June 24, to £5.2M. Sales slumped from £187.7M to £173.6M. It blamed July's hot weather for lower chocolate sales, partly offset by ice cream sales.

Arla's organic milk sales rose in the year to the end of September by 25%, it said. Long-life Cravendale Purfiltre milk sales were 10% higher at £72M. Fresh milk sales to its three major supermarket customers were 6% higher, although total sales changed little. Lurpak and Anchor butters sales were up 8% and 5%.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) would use "all means available" to find and prosecute illegal labour providers after the new law requiring such operators to be licensed took effect on October 1, warned the GLA's chief executive Mike Wilson.

A "technical glitch" could force policy makers to redraft one of the most controversial pieces of food regulation to come out of Brussels in recent years, legal experts have warned.

The traditional British loaf or pint of milk might become a thing of the past after another twist in the move to harmonise and simplify EU packaging law.

British Sugar is set to increase its sugar price to industry by 4% next year, but the company insisted that it was not asking manufacturers to foot the bill for an over-generous deal with UK farmers.

Children's health charity, the Health Education Trust, has applauded a move by the frozen food producer McCain that could improve the quality of school meals, but rejected the firm's call for the government to lift the new limit of just two deep-fried food portions per child per week.

Moves to increase the use of biofuels in road transport are driving the price of edible oils to record levels and putting further pressure on food firms' margins, claimed the Margarine and Spreads Association (MSA).