From offices in Boise, Post Falls, Twin Falls, and Pocatello, TechHelp Specialists help Idaho manufacturers, food processors and entrepreneurs improve their competitiveness through continuous product and process innovation.

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Leadership & Technical Training Lean Manufacturing Lean Six Sigma Lean Transformation Operational Excellence Operations Leadership Product & Process Cost Savings Product & Process Development Quality Management Systems

Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt Certification Course Begins January 17 at Idaho Manufacturing Alliance HQ in Nampa

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.

Advanced Food Safety Programs Food Manufacturing FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food

Winter Food Newsletter from Dr. J

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.

Manufacturing in General

Veteran’s Day 2023 – Thank You Veterans!

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.

Manufacturing in General

TechHelp’s Jennifer Buel Wins “Unsung Hero of the Year” Award at 2023 MEP National Conference

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.

Advanced Food Safety Programs Food Manufacturing Supply Chain

Dr. Janna Hamlett Article in Food Safety Magazine Has Tips to Overcome Supply Chain Challenges for Food Manufacturers

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.

Advanced Food Safety Programs Food Manufacturing FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food

ONLINE FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Course with Dr. Janna Hamlett

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.

Food Manufacturing Product & Process Development

Dr. Janna Hamlett Article in Food Safety Magazine on The Value of Mistake Proofing

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.

Operational Excellence Operational Excellence Staff Staff

TechHelp Welcomes Luke Fuess as Client Manager for North & North Central Idaho

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. 

CMMC Cybersecurity Doing Business with the Government (PTAC) Manufacturing in General

Help is Available to Complete Your CMMC Cybersecurity Assessment

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program is aligned with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) information security requirements for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) partners. If your organization doesn’t meet minimum CMMC-level requirements, you may be unable to bid on certain grants and contracts.

TechHelp in partnership with the Institute for Pervasive Cybersecurity (IPC) at Boise State is looking for a few companies to complete a CMMC level 1 or level 2 assessment over the next 6 months. A CMMC assessment starts your company on the path to certification in cyber security which could put you on the path to seeking grant funding for further certification. It raises awareness of critical steps to implement foundational cybersecurity protection needs.

Environmental Monitoring Food Manufacturing

Dr. Janna Hamlett on Determining Sanitation Effectiveness with a Robust Environmental Monitoring Program

A sanitation program is a key component of any food processor’s or food handler’s food safety plan. A well-written and well-executed sanitation program can mitigate, or reduce to an acceptable level, all three classifications of hazards (microbiological, chemical, and physical) in a hazard analysis. Sanitation is one of the four preventive controls (process controls, allergen, sanitation, and others) in the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Sanitation has long been a major prerequisite program for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Consequently, it is imperative that the sanitation program be functioning and performing according to expectations.

Food Manufacturing Lean Six Sigma Lean Transformation Manufacturing in General Product & Process Cost Savings Product & Process Development

Janna Hamlett Explores “TIM WOODS” Waste Factors in FoodSafety Magazine Article

If you look around, you may find many examples of ‘TIM WOODS’ in a food processing facility. TIM WOODS is an acronym for the ‘eight wastes’ that can plague a processing facility. In lean manufacturing, waste is any cost, effort, or material that is used in a processing facility that does not directly lead to a completed unit.

Food Manufacturing Manufacturing Equipment Manufacturing in General

To Buy or Not to Buy? Considerations When Purchasing Used Food Processing Equipment

When buying equipment for a food processing facility or commercial kitchen, it is ideal to purchase new equipment that is designed for the specific product, processing use, and processing capacity at the facility. However, in many cases this equipment may be cost-prohibitive, or the exact type of equipment may not be readily available, and so used equipment may need to be purchased instead.

Food Manufacturing Manufacturing in General Operational Excellence Product & Process Cost Savings Product & Process Development

Recording of TechHelp’s Webinar on the Uses and Benefits of Collaborative Robots (Cobots) in Manufacturing Facilities – Jan 27

Is your manufacturing facility undergoing a workforce shortage? Attracting, hiring, and keeping workers is one of today’s key workforce challenges. In this webinar, we explored how collaborative robots (also called cobots) can help. Our speakers, Ryan Okelberry (House of Design) and Al Youngwerth (Versabuilt) are local legends in the robotics industry who shared their experiences and answered questions.