After an 18-month journey, the Food Safety Modernization Act finally made it into law Jan. 4, bringing to a close a much-debated issue that had managed to both divide and unite the Democratic and Republican parties.

The bill brings the first major updates to food-safety legislation in more than 70 years. It authorizes the hiring of 17,800 new FDA inspectors and gives the agency sweeping new powers, which include the authority to order a recall instead of relying on companies to voluntarily recall their food, the ratcheting up of standards for imported food and better tracking of fruit and vegetable shipments.

“Each year, foodborne illness strikes 48 million Americans, hospitalizing a hundred thousand and killing thousands,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “I thank the President and members of Congress for recognizing that the burden that foodborne illness places on the American people is too great, and for taking this action.”

Circular Knit control moves to Sonoro, Mexico, as MKMS and the F-1000 Controller, monitor over 300 Circular Knitting Machines, providing major bottom line additions.
Read more about Knit Monitoring…

Matrix Controls has designed, and will be implementing its F-2000 F Central Monitoring System for Flat Bed Machines at a Major Textile facility in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The system will allow management to see machine efficiencies, track order production, see preventative maintenance (PM) alerts, track operators and perform yarn rate monitoring.

Matrix Controls has extended its Textile Monitoring capabilities to Spandex, an addition to an already impressive list of Quality Controlled Fabrics (Jersey, Mesh, Terry, Interlock, Rib, Thermal, Fleece, and Rashel). A major Central American Manufacturer is reaping the rewards of a design which incorporates Spandex usage Yarn Monitoring and Elongation (F2000 Spandex Monitor) . The design can monitor one or two separate levels of Spandex Feeders, while providing continuous control of material usage, in addition to four levels of hard yarns.

The Apparel Sourcing Show (major event for the CAFTA-DR Region) in Guatemala City gave Matrix a great opportunity to introduce its KnitQuest, SewQuest and GarmentQuest offerings. Reviews were very promising, while members of our IPC office and other Trade Show participants enjoyed outings at the Alta Vista Golf and Tennis Club, and a Mayan Adventure (Enigmatycs Pyramids) in Tikat as well.

Matrix Controls aids U.S. textile designer/producer in bullet-proof vest research, development and production, with their TexCheck Thread Counter.

Caracol Knits, one of the world’s largest circular knitting companies, has selected Matrix Controls’ KnitQuest and DyeQuest applications to control their Caracol and Coral Honduras operation in San Pedro Sula. The application will put all of their knitting and dye machines on-line, in a real-time production scheduling control system and our integrated production intelligence dashboards. The system will give Caracol the ability to determine production capacity, initiate dyeing and knitting orders, and intelligently connect and send and receive data from the machines on the floor.

Details:

Records must allow for the identification of previous sources and subsequent recipients of food. Persons covered by the regulation who employ 500 or more full-time employees(FTEs) had to be in compliance by Dec. 9/05, and those who employ 11 to 499 FTEs- June 9/06; 10 or fewer FTEs-Dec. 11/06. http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodDefense/Bioterrorism/Recordkeeping/ucm061619.htm Records must be made available to the FDA within 4 hrs. between 8:00am-6:00pm Mon.-Fri., or 8 hrs. any other time.

Registration: 21 CFR Parts 1 and 20
The FDA’s final reg. requires domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, pack, or hold food for human or animal consumption in the U.S. to register by Dec. 12/03. Register 24/7- http://www.fda.gov/furls

In Summary:

1) Dec. 11/06 – Final date for All to be Compliant.
2) FDA availability: 4 hrs. Mon. through Fri. (8am-6pm), 8 hrs.-other.
3) Regist. by-Dec. 12/03- We urge companies to please register to enable the FDA to Act!

Solution: Matrix Controls Will Protect You And You Will Protect Us!

Matrix’s Systems are designed to manage All Aspects of FDA Reporting, recipe management, lot integration, transportation tracking, warehousing operations and at all levels.

GCS Computers has named Matrix Controls a reseller of their A2000 Apparel Information System. The Oracle based apparel manufacturing applications include a suite of modules for Product Design, Customer Service, Production and Sourcing, Warehouse Operations, Accounting and EDI.