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Stevenson Company is a finalist for a Small Business Award, recognizing a solid history of creating innovative products. Russell Stevenson bought a small tin shop in 1952 and advertised in the local business directory: "Sheet Metal Work of All Kinds." The business was located in a former stable. Though our facilities have been updated tremendously since then, we have remained at the same location. We have expanded to a total of 15,500 square feet and armed ourselves with state-of-the-art metalworking equipment.
Stevenson Company first entered the food industry when working with a customer to build an egg-breaking machine. The invention allowed whites to be separated from yolks. It removed human hands from the process, thereby reducing risk of diseases spread to processors and consumers.
Joe Pennington, president of Stevenson Company Inc., has been certified with Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Training to help customers train and comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirement. The training was provided by Fadi Aramouni at the Food Science Institute.
The Food Safety Modernization Act is the most extensive reform of food safety laws in the United States in more than 70 years. With the proactive goal to prevent food contamination, one key change included in the reform that applies to the majority of food processors is the need to have a food safety plan prepared and implemented by a PCQI.
What would life be like without electric heat and air conditioning? It’s the 21st century and things like refrigerators and telephones are considered basic everyday essentials. But once upon a time, these items didn’t exist. There was some crazy man who thought to himself, “Huh, what if I could make something that could let me talk to another person through cords?” What a lunatic.
When Stevenson Company, Inc. decided it was time to modernize their facilities, dedication to local sourcing was paramount. "We grew up in Topeka. Our innovative products ship worldwide, but it all started by working with local food plants, supplying high quality specialty fabrications," said Joe Pennington, president of the family business. "We wanted to extend that same loyalty to our community partners." Stevenson fabricates spiral chutes - think a spiral playground slide, only sized for chips or candy - for global leaders in the food production market.
According to Dr. Fadi Aramouni, Professor at the Food Science Institute, you can significantly reduce product loss inside your facility. Aramouni, along with McKenna Mills, food lab manager at Kansas State University, determined that the use of a Spiral Chute can lower rates of breakage, rework, and waste.
Unfortunately, breakage is a common occurance inside manufacturing facilities, particularly during transitions in elevation or direction. It doesn’t change taste, but adversely influences the customer experience -- which, in turn, affects the bottom dollar.