| The beginnings of NeXtconveyor Corp. can be traced back to the early 1970’s when founder Dan Karpy entered the industry as a designer draftsman. From the beginning, Dan recognized that sanitation requirements for the food industry would become increasingly more stringent. Over time, he realized that the material handling industry remained surprisingly stagnant. Conveyors and other mechanisms and systems employed to handle and convey food and food-related materials were thought of as commodities. Dan became increasingly dissatisfied with this status, and was constantly looking for ways to make better products. By the late 1990’s, material handling systems came under intense scrutiny: conveyors were identified as the least cleanly segment of the food production chain. On top of this, worldwide attention was heightened through such maladies as mad cow disease, listeria, chronic wasting disorder, e-coli and after 9-1-1, the threat of bioterrorism. The material handling industry, astonishingly, failed to take notice. The Federal Government, however, did. About 30 years ago, the FDA developed a program called HACCP1 (say “hassip”) for NASA to ensure the safety of food for astronauts. Crazy as that may sound, it was a good program that focused on beginning-to-end quality processes, unlike the rest of food industry, where random spot checks and inspections were the norm – believe it or not until just a few short years ago. In light of the many problems and threats facing the food production chain, HACCP was resurrected and imposed upon virtually everyone involved in the handling and/or manufacture of food and food-related products. From the largest beef, pork and poultry producers to the smallest restaurants and caterers, the complete and continuous sanitation of anything coming into contact with food – from paring knives and cutting boards to conveyors, machinery and any other large equipment – took on a whole new life: Whereas such items were previously subject to weekly or semi-weekly cleaning, many of them suddenly required cleaning as often as once per shift per each day of operation. While all of this was taking place, Dan was diligently pursuing his vision of creating the ultimate food conveying equipment. His inspiration came during a trip to a well-known theme park in Florida. While there with his wife and two young sons, he rode a new, high-tech “steel frame” roller coaster, and the ultimate design in sanitizable conveyors was born. Within 9 months of that experience, Dan had secured a patent, and NeXtconveyor Corp. was on its way to the head of the class! Dan set-up an office at home, and built his first machines in his garage. That was mid-1999. From this humble beginning, NeXtconveyor Corp. has become the most sought-after manufacturer in the industry. No one else offers products that come even close to those provided by NeXtconveyor Corp..
1Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point systems and processes
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