The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers’ biennial event, The NAFEM Show, makes its return Feb. 5-7 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The 2009 show will feature a new product gallery, topical educational sessions and networking opportunities.

The event will host more than 600 exhibitors, covering more than 1 million sq. ft. of exhibit space. On display will be products and services for all aspects of a foodservice operation, including food preparation, cooking, storage and table service.

Further adding to the breadth of products is FS/TEC, which will again co-locate with The NAFEM Show. FS/TEC is a niche, high-tech trade show for the restaurant and foodservice industries. Together the two shows will offer a complete spectrum of equipment, supplies and foodservice related technology under one roof. Registration for either show provides access to both.

Making its debut for this show will be a new product gallery called What’s Hot! What’s Cool! The section will showcase products that address areas of greatest foodservice operator concern, including labor and cost savings, energy efficiency, food safety and sanitation.

The goal of the gallery is to feature the most cutting-edge, innovative foodservice equipment and supplies available in the market. All show exhibitors were invited to submit a product for consideration. Those that were accepted had to meet three of five criteria:

• Be a new product that introduces a unique concept or application that provides tangible operator benefits such as eco-friendly/energy efficiency, food safety, labor savings, reduced footprint, etc.
• Be an existing product update that significantly improves a standard function or practice that provides tangible operator benefits such as eco-friendly/energy efficiency, food safety, labor savings, reduced footprint, etc.
• Be a new foodservice application that creates or expands potential foodservice opportunities by offering the operator ways to open market segments or day parts, offer new menu items and streamline service/delivery.
• Provide a cost reduction that lowers operator overhead through attributes such as automation, energy efficiency, life cycle costing, multi-use, or incorporates unique materials and/or manufacturing processes to reduce expenses.
• Provide an aesthetic impact enables the operator to provide the ultimate consumer a quality food or beverage product that delights the senses through sight, smell, sound, taste, touch, or enhanced experience through an innovative equipment and supply application.

The gallery will be located in the center of the exhibit hall and remain open throughout the duration of the show.

Knowledge gained on the exhibit show floor will be complemented by a series of free, daily educational sessions that will focus on three macro-level issues: sustainability, innovative thinking and future trends. The sessions will also include a daily spotlight speaker followed by an industry panel each day.

The show also offers two important networking opportunities: the Global Networking Event on Feb. 4, at the World Showplace at Epcot, and the All-Industry Celebration, Feb. 6, Valencia Ballroom, Orange County Convention Center, which will feature a reception, dinner, achievements awards ceremony, and live musical entertainment by the Grammy Award-winning Doobie Brothers.

For more information on The NAFEM Show and to register, visit www.thenafemshow.org.

WHIRLPOOL CUTS JOBS.
Whirlpool is eliminating about 5,000 jobs this year and next, due in part to the downturn in the U.S. housing market. The job cuts include positions being eliminated from plant closings already announced along with new reductions taking place now and through the end of next year. Since January, Whirlpool has announced the closure of four plants — LaVergne, Tenn.; Oxford, Miss.; Puebla, Mexico; and Reynosa, Mexico — which account for a loss of about 2,000 jobs. The company said it would also shutter its facility in Jackson, Tenn., and shift production from there to its plant in Findlay, Ohio, eliminating about 500 positions. It also will cut approximately 500 salaried jobs throughout North America, including both full-time and contractor positions. Another approximately 1,900 jobs will be cut overseas, mostly in Europe. The cuts are expected to produce annual savings of $275 million. The nation’s largest home appliance maker also reported that its earnings fell 7 percent during the third quarter on lower global unit volumes and higher material costs. To offset higher operating costs, Whirlpool will raise the prices of its products sold in North America by 8 percent to 10 percent in January. Prices in Europe have already increased by 5 percent to 7 percent, and in Latin America prices rose between 4 percent and 5 percent.

GE HFC-free fridge.

HFC-FREE FRIDGE.
GE Appliances of Louisville, Ky., has developed a residential HFC-free refrigerator to be built and sold in the U.S. GE has submitted information to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting approval to use isobutane as a refrigerant in household refrigerators. The isobutane would replace the hydrochlorofluorocarbon now in use. The petition was filed under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP)(a) program that evaluates alternatives to substances being phased out under the Clean Air Act. Upon gaining EPA approval, GE plans to include isobutane in a new GE Monogram brand refrigerator currently in development for introduction in early 2010. The GE Monogram refrigerator will use cyclopentane, another hydrocarbon, as the insulation foam-blowing agent to replace commonly used HFC foam blowing agents. GE will begin test marketing HFC-free GE Monogram refrigerators in select locations later this year.

HAIER WAITS ON BID.
According to a Reuters news report, Haier, China’s largest home appliance maker, plans to wait until the economy improves before bidding on the General Electric appliances unit. The report, which cites unnamed sources, says that a bid for GE’s appliances business has been considered, but Haier managers decided that the troubled U.S. economy would negatively affect the market for GE’s big-ticket home appliances. A source that worked with Haier executives to evaluate the potential GE deal said the other concern for Haier is how to pay for it, as Haier would rather not borrow from commercial banks, the report added.

F&P IN THAILAND. New Zealand-based Fisher & Paykel Appliances has opened a manufacturing plant in Thailand. The factory, which is located in the duty free zone of the Amata City Industrial Estate, began production in March 2008. Annual laundry production is expected to reach 320,000 units. The site employs 230 workers.

BSH STAYS CHINA COURSE.
Bosch and Siemens Home Appliance Group (BSH) plans to continue its investment strategy in China despite the negative impact of the world’s economic downturn and real estate industry on China’s home appliance market. BSH has completed construction on a factory to build kitchen and small household appliances, and plans to further develop its refrigerator and clothes washing machine production capabilities. The company has invested more than $500 million in China’s market to produce products under the Siemens name, a brand under BSH, which will market to the mid-priced market, and under the Bosch name, which will be introduced to the high-end market.

MICROWAVE SAFETY.
Microwave ovens should be equipped with safety controls to prevent children from opening them and being burned by hot foods and drinks, according to a study published by University of Chicago Medical Center researchers in the October 2008 issue of the Journal Pediatrics. The study recommends extra protections, such as locking mechanisms and stepped-up warning campaigns, to reduce accidental injuries to children when they remove food from the microwave. Many current models have an option to lock the oven that requires the user to hold the start or stop/clear button for three to four seconds before it will operate. However, this does not stop a child from opening the oven after something has been heated, the study noted.

DOE RULES FOR PTAC.
On Oct.7, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a final rule establishing new energy-efficiency standards for packaged-terminal air conditioners (PTACs) and packaged-terminal heat pumps (PTHPs). The DOE, prompted by a request from the AHRI, adopted the ASHRAE 90.1 energy efficiency standard for non-standard size PTACs and PTHPs, and also adopted AHRI’s definition of these products. The agency published an addendum to the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 for standard and non-standard size package terminal equipment. However, contrary to an AHRI recommendation, the DOE adopted energy-efficiency standards for standard-size equipment that is significantly more stringent than the levels established in ASHRAE 90.1. The new standards will be effective on Oct. 7, 2010, for non-standard size equipment and on Oct. 8, 2012, for standard size products.

ICC BACKS VENT-FREE APPLIANCES.
Members of the International Code Council (ICC) voted in September to uphold the ability of homeowners to choose to install and use vent-free gas appliances in U.S. homes. During hearings on Sept. 23, vent-free gas appliance proponents testified that homes using vent-free gas appliances for supplemental heat meet recognized indoor air quality guidelines, and that all vent-free gas products are subject to stringent product safety standards and are certified by independent testing agencies.

Also, at the ICC meetings, the AHRI was able to defeat proposals that would have established a standard in the International Energy Conservation Code that would have included a furnace electricity ratio, a 2 percent maximum leakage rate on air handlers, a minimum 90 percent AFUE furnace efficiency standard, and a requirement mandating the use of pilotless, electronic ignition systems on gas water heaters. The ICC also followed an AHRI recommendation to reject a proposal that would have prohibited the installation of gas-fired vent-free heaters in aftermarket manufactured homes and those that meet International Energy Conservation Code requirements. Changes approved at the hearings will be published in the 2009 edition of the codes. The ICC will accept code change proposals for the next code cycle until March 24, 2009.

GreenHeart phone.

CALL FOR GREEN.
Sweden-based Sony Ericsson has introduced a recycling program and released an environmentally friendly phone. Under the recycling program, when any Sony Ericsson product is taken to a designated collection point, the company will recycle the product even if the product was purchased in another country. The initiative has been introduced in India, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Singapore, the U.S., and Mexico. To date, more than 500 collection points are in operation and the company intends to complete the rollout by the end of 2009. The GreenHeart phone includes features such as bio-plastic housings, recycled plastic keypads, zero charger with 3.5mW standby power, HTML based e-manuals, a game style educational application called Ecomate and environmentally conscious packaging.

PATENT RULING.
A federal appeals court decision that restricts patent protection for business methods may affect the way high-tech firms protect their intellectual property, according to legal observers. On Oct. 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 9-3 that methods or processes cannot be patented unless they are linked to a machine or involve some sort of physical transformation. (In Re Bilski) The court ruled against Bernard Bilski, who sought to patent a method for hedging against weather-related risks in commodities trading. Industry observers are split in their opinion of the ruling. Some say the denial eliminates a whole class of innovations from protection and will subsequently discourage such innovations. Others disagree, saying that the granting of protection to vague, abstract ideas would hinder innovation. Legal observers expect the issue to reemerge in the courts, saying that emerging technologies will compel further refinement of the machine-or-transformation test that was the basis of the ruling.

KITCHEN GADGET SALES.
Specialty kitchen electric products that offer convenience, address healthy lifestyles, and enhance the everyday-at-home experience are the ones that tend to garner consumer attention, resulting in sustainable sales growth, according to a new report from The NPD Group. In the 12 months ending August 2008, the categories with the largest percentage growth in unit sales were jar openers, electric kettles, popcorn makers, and tea makers. The biggest unit declines were chocolate fountains, electric rotisseries, pizza ovens, and roaster ovens.

CLEAN WOOD HEATERS.
Manufacturers are gearing up to produce cleaner wood-burning heaters. Under the second phase of a voluntary partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), several manufacturers of outdoor wood-fired heaters have pledged to market units that are more efficient, and which will emit about 90 percent less air pollution than unqualified units. Some manufacturers already have units available that meet the new emission levels. The voluntary EPA program was launched in 2007, providing criteria for units to be 70 percent cleaner than unqualified models. The program has evolved to Phase 2, and EPA-qualified units will be up to 90 percent cleaner than older unqualified units. To date, the program has reduced nearly 1,200 tons of fine particle emissions released annually. Under Phase 2, new models must emit no more than 0.32 lbs. of particle pollution per million BTUs of heat output. The models must be tested by an EPA-accredited third-party laboratory to verify that they meet these levels.

CAPTURING HEAT.
GTI, an independent research and development laboratory, has been awarded a Chicago Innovation Award for its Transport Membrane Condenser (TMC) advanced heat recovery technology. The technology allows the capture of waste heat and water vapor from exhaust/flue gas for reuse, which can increase operating efficiency and lower overall energy costs. Applied to industrial and commercial boilers, the Transport Membrane Condenser can help increase in fuel-to-steam efficiency of as much as 10 percent to 15 percent (up to 95 percent fuel-to-steam efficiency), and up to 20 percent fresh water savings. The technology is a key element in the Super Boiler technology and GTI is working to expand the use of the TMC technology, including applications for industrial food drying, and as a home furnace heat recovery and humidification system.

Automower Solar Hybrid.

SOLAR MOWER.
Husqvarna, Louisville, Ky., has launched the Automower Solar Hybrid. The fully robotic, 22 lb. electric lawn mower is partly powered by the sun and uses no fuel or oil. By obtaining power from both the sun and its recharging station, the Automower is designed to handle lawns of up to a half-acre. To navigate, a small wire is staked to the ground below the grass level, or buried just beneath it, around the perimeter of the lawn to be mowed. An on-board navigation system monitors its position relative to the wire keeping it in the area to be mowed.

ECO TARGETS.
Panasonic Europe, a subsidiary of Japan-based Panasonic, has set environmental targets, which it calls the “eco ideas” initiative. The initiative focuses on producing energy-efficient products, reducing CO2 emissions at all manufacturing sites, and encouraging the spread of environmental activities for employees and customers. The company has pledged to develop 20 Superior Green Products by the end of their fiscal year 2010. Panasonic defines the Superior Green Products as those achieving the industry’s top environmental performance. The plan also calls for the reduction of CO2 emissions by 10 percent, or more than 6,000 tons, by March 2010.

RETAILER GOES CHAPTER 11.
Circuit City Stores has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond. The company plans to continue operating the business without interruption as management focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive corporate restructuring plan. Circuit City’s Canadian operations also will be seeking protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada. The company is seeking customary authority from the Bankruptcy Court that will enable it to continue operating its business and serving its customers in the ordinary course. The requested approvals include requests for the authority to make wage and salary payments and continue various benefits for employees as well as honor customer programs such as returns, exchanges and gift cards. The week prior to the filing, Circuit City announced plans to close 155 domestic segment stores. In addition, the company reduced its corporate, regional and district support workforce by about 700 positions. The store closings and support workforce reductions will result in a combined domestic workforce and store base reduction of approximately 20 percent.

LOWE’S RANKS HIGH.
Lowe’s ranks highest in customer satisfaction among major appliance retailers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Appliance Retailer Study. The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction with the largest appliance retailers based on performance in six factors: sales staff, installation service, delivery service, store facility, merchandise, and price. Lowe’s achieved a score of 804 on a 1,000-point scale and performs particularly well in the installation service, delivery service and store facility factors. H.H. Gregg (799) and Best Buy (788) follow Lowe’s in the rankings.

TV STARS.
Televisions meeting EPA’s new, more comprehensive Energy Star efficiency specification became available in stores nationwide after Nov. 1. Televisions that meet the new Energy Star specification are up to 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. If all televisions sold in the U.S. met the new Energy Star requirements, the savings in energy costs would grow to be about $1 billion annually and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of about 1 million cars. The specification requires energy efficiency when televisions are on, as well as off or in “standby” mode. It also requires the use of external power supplies that have earned the Energy Star label where applicable. The CEA has expressed support for the new Energy Star specification.

NIST’s electronic nose. (Photo: NIST.)

ELECTRONIC NOSE.
By marrying a sensitive detector technology capable of distinguishing hundreds of different chemical compounds to a pattern-recognition module that mimics the way animals recognize odors, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new approach for “electronic noses.” The electronic nose features eight types of sensors in the form of oxide films deposited on the surfaces of 16 microheaters, with two copies of each material. Precise control of the individual heating elements allows the scientists to treat each of them as a collection of “virtual” sensors at 350 temperature increments between 150 DegC to 500 DegC, increasing the number of sensors to about 5,600.

CHP IN EURO BOILERS.
Energy product supplier Energetix has signed an agreement with Stiebel Eltron, a German-based boiler manufacturer to install its micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) unit into a boiler for the European domestic heating market. Under the agreement, Stiebel will incorporate Energetix’s Genlec micro-CHP unit into one of its boiler designs, and U.K. based Energetix will provide technical expertise and a number of Genlec units for field-testing. Development will start in 2009. The firm’s collaboration coincides with the introduction of new German legislation, which supports micro-CHP. The initial aim is commercial sales across Europe but the eventual aim is to take the product worldwide.

SENIOR SUMMIT.
The burgeoning baby boomer market is the impetus behind an exhibition and one-day conference, which will be at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. The Silvers Summit Exhibition and Conference, sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), is scheduled for Jan. 8-11, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nev. The full-day conference on Jan. 10 will feature seminars addressing topics such as the lifestyle and dynamics of senior consumers, consumer-driven healthcare and the CE device market, new innovations in wireless bandages and pills, better ways to monitor elderly relatives, and trends in personal healthcare information. The exhibition at the Sands Expo and Convention Center will showcase the high-tech devices including brain games, consumer medical technology, and media that keep “silvers” engaged, entertained, connected, and healthy.

CORRECTION

On page 21 of the November 2008 issue of Appliance Design, in the feature on Metals & Metal Parts, the correct contact information for Cool Polymers should have been: jim.miller@coolpolymers.com.

SIDEBAR: Modular Fridge Wins Design Lab

Flatshare fridge.

Stefan Buchberger, from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria, has been chosen winner of the Electrolux Design Lab competition for designing Flatshare, a modular fridge with individual compartments for people who live with several roommates.

Flatshare consists of a base station and up to four stackable modules. The modules allow each individual user to have his or her own refrigerator space and can be customized with various colorful skins as well as with add-ons like a bottle opener. Handles mounted on the side make it easy to transport the modules.

Coox cooking table.

The Design Lab 2008 award is a prize of € 5,000 and a six-month internship at one of Electrolux global design centers.

The award for second place went to iBasket, by Guopeng Liang, from Tongji University, Shanghai, China. The iBasket is a wireless, remote-controlled appliance that combines a laundry hamper with a clothes washer.

Third place went to Coox, by Antoine Lebrun from L’Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, France. Coox is an adaptive cooking table that allows users to cook and eat wherever they are in the house.

iBasket hamper/washer.

The other six finalists were:

• Sook, a social networking recipe generator with electronic tongue, by Adam Brodowski, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Ga.
• E-bag, a kinetic energy-powered cooler bag, by Apore Puspoki, Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design, Budapest, Hungary.
• Stratosphere, a sanitizing clothes rack/valet, by Atilla Safrani, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, Hungary.
• Vesta, a foldaway cooktop with RFID scanner, by Matthias Pinkert, HTW Dresden (FH) University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
• Drawer Kitchen, a desk-drawer hotplate and fridge, by Nojae Park, Chiba University, Japan.
• Scan Toaster, a USB toaster that prints news, weather and snapshots onto slices of toast, by Sung Bae Chang, Sejong University, South Korea.

The 2008 Electrolux Design Lab, the sixth edition of the annual competition, challenged undergraduate and graduate industrial design students to create home appliance concepts for the Internet generation two to three years from now. Entries were to address food storage, cooking, and/or washing. This year, there were more than 600 entries from 49 countries.

Design Contest: Call for Entries

appliance DESIGN magazine has issued a call for entries for its 2009 Excellence in Design competition.

Now in its 22nd year, the competition is open to OEMs and industrial design firms worldwide and covers a broad spectrum of appliance product segments. Products entered must have been introduced into the market within the year 2008.

Judging of the entries will be based on four criteria — innovation, aesthetics, human factors, and technical merits. Winners will be featured in the June 2009 issue of appliance DESIGN.

Instructions, rules, deadlines, and entry forms are available at: www.appliance DESIGN.com/EID