TechHelp Learning Management System Meets You Where You Are TechHelp is delighted to unveil our Learning Management System or LMS that allows clients to take a growing number of manufacturing-related […]
E-Commerce – Win the Digital Shelf – The Hows and Whys of Growing Your Business Digitally You are invited to view a recording of our Webinar on Winning the Digital Shelf – ECommerce […]
For food, implications stretch beyond when everyone else reaches a “new normal” A chance discussion at a recent Idaho District Export Council (DEC) meeting led DEC Member Amanda Gibson, to write a […]
By Jolene Cram TechHelp is thrilled to share this article written by Jolene Cram for Food Safety Magazine. As the food safety project manager for the Tri-State Food Manufacturing Collaboration, […]
The Sawtooth by Black Sage: Idaho companies make a lot of cool things. In the absence of our annual MFG Day event at the Idaho Center in Nampa, the […]
How to Calculate Sample Size Food Specialist Catherine Cantley, of TechHelp and the University of Idaho, brings a wealth of new skills, expertise, and service offerings to the TechHelp Team. Catherine […]
The basic premise of search engine reputation management is to use the following three strategies to accomplish the goal of creating a completely positive first page of search engine results for a specific term…
The basic premise of search engine reputation management is to use the following three strategies to accomplish the goal of creating a completely positive first page of search engine results for a specific term…
Rural Energy for America Program a partnership between TechHelp and Idaho State University Through the USDA Rural Development grant initiative, our organization performs energy audits for a range of entities […]
TechHelp and the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance will offer a Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Course (LSSGB) at IMA’s HQ in Nampa with full-day sessions on 1/17, 1/31, 2/14, and 3/6 of 2024. Lean Six Sigma is a well-known approach for achieving operational excellence that combines the process improvement benefits of Lean with the statistical process control benefits of Six Sigma. The course includes time between sessions for participants to complete workplace projects.
There has never been a better time to apply the principles of Lean Six Sigma in your organization. With today’s tight labor market and supply chain challenges, Lean can help your company become a more attractive employer and a stronger competitor. Luke Fuess and Janna Hamlett of TechHelp, the University of Idaho, and the legendary Lean practitioner Gene Hamacher will lead the course and provide LSSGB project support.
I hope the weather is not treating you too harshly as we enter the holiday season.
We are thrilled to announce that our team has expanded with the arrival of Stuart Walker, a 28-year research and development veteran in the food industry. Stuart joined TechHelp as a Food Specialist in October of 2023 after working for almost 12 years at the renowned Litehouse Food Company in Sandpoint, Idaho. He looks forward to utilizing his extensive food formulation and manufacturing knowledge and background to help solve the current problems being experienced by Idaho food manufacturers. Stuart will be based in Boise but will serve Idaho food processors statewide.
TechHelp, Idaho’s Manufacturing Extension Partner (MEP) thanks our veterans for their service to our nation. We are also thankful for those veterans who apply the skills, expertise, and ideas they developed in the service to their jobs and companies. Mike Atwood of Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU) is one example of a Veteran who leaned on his service experience to create excellent night vision products with applications in the civilian world. As a former AH-64 Apache pilot, Mike founded ASU in 1995 and worked with government agencies to allow unrestricted NVG use among first responders and law enforcement agencies.
TechHelp’s Jennifer Buel won the “Unsung Hero of the Year” Award at the 2023 MEP National Conference in Buffalo, NY. This award recognizes an individual and/or team from marketing, reporting, administrative, human resources, or other behind-the-scenes roles at an MEP Center who has shown exemplary effort in their work.
Supply chain constraints are not a new challenge in the food industry. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic created additional hardships, the food industry has always had to deal with difficulties in the supply chain. Food is a global market, and even the smallest food processor brings in food ingredients, packaging, and equipment from around the world. The food industry is not immune to environmental disasters or political unrest in the global environment. Since the food supply chain is very complex with multiple stakeholders, processors, brokers, and transportation involved, it is susceptible to turbulence and instability.
The TechHelp Team participated in a number of manufacturing related events during the spring of 2023. It was great to visit many parts of the great state of Idaho and to visit with manufacturers and colleagues. It is amazing to see how much great work is taking place across the state and the wealth of resources available to help manufacturers succeed.
The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act – Preventive Controls for Human Food requires processing facilities to have at least one Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) on staff to oversee the food safety plan and system.
Our upcoming online FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Course is one way to gain that credential. This FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food course is the “standardized curriculum” recognized by the FDA. This course covers regulation Title 21 CFR 117 – Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food.
People make mistakes—more often than we might like to think. Studies have shown that no matter how well-trained a worker is, or how well-maintained the equipment is, errors still occur. Tasks are forgotten, and equipment breaks. Standard work and “one right way” can help reduce errors.
Mistake proofing, also known by its Japanese equivalent, “poka-yoke,” is a method used to reduce or eliminate errors, or to make those errors immediately obvious. Ensuring that non-conforming product is never created—or at least never arrives at customers’ doorsteps—is invaluable in the food industry. Reduced downgrade, less rework, and decreased out-of-specification product are all benefits of mistake proofing.
TechHelp was thrilled to add Luke Fuess as a Client Manager in March of 2023. Luke will rely on his extensive manufacturing management and operations background to help Idaho manufacturers improve operations, quality, and profitability. Luke is based at the University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene and will focus on North and North Central Idaho companies from the Canadian border south into Grangeivlle. Luke’s work experience covers Aerospace, Weapons Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, and other technical trades.