Minor – Plant Sciences (Post Harvest, Botany, Crop Science
and Horticulture)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Shefet is an
'out of the box' thinker who has impacted the meat industry in
an unprecedented manner. His unique talent in achieving real
time improvements, which directly impact the bottom line, is
supported by innovation, problem solving skills, wide technical
knowledge and partnership strength. His passion is around
creating unequaled machinery and processes that have the
potential to make food processing more efficient.
Dr. Shefet's
expertise stems from 10 years of experience in the food
industry, in particular the meat industry. In his most resent
position, as a senior project leader in ConAgra Foods, he
generated $1,000,000 cost reduction, while identifying
$2,000,000 in additional long tern savings. Additionally,
he designed several prototypes for automating ham trimming
process; among them was the development of a ham 'Auto-Netting'
machine that is fed by continuous roll stock netting. Dr. Shefet
also designed a device for efficient harvesting of cooked hams
from the product trees. This device not only solved worker
ergonomic issues but also made ‘the least desirable job in the
plant’ become one of the most desired. Alternately he designed
a 'Hock-Butt' saw that automated the portioning of all hams
(including picnics) while eliminating both ergonomic and severe
safety hazards. Another example was the prototype development
of apparatus for automating the insertion of absorbent pads and
ham bone guards prior to bagging. Besides, he designed a
machine to reduce work force and increase the efficiency of
stripping bags from cooked products. Likewise, Dr. Shefet
developed method to eliminate the need for netting of Deli
products. This $200,000 investment generated a $1,000,000
annual saving. Furthermore, he assisted Butterball, Cooks Ham
and Deli plant engineers in increasing processing efficiencies
by creating better product flow designs, changing conveyor
designs, and introducing cams and low cost robotics. He also
explored methods to improve and reduce processing time for meat
and grain snacks using microwave and other cooking
technologies. More to that point, Dr. Shefet designed a natural
jerky cooker-dryer system composed of a convection dryer and
microwave. This innovative system increases the production
output by 2.5 times the original volume. The new design, which
allows for a wavy or irregular shaped jerky, includes a new
smoke delivery system. One more achievement was the development
of an efficient, space saving material handling system to
incubate, cook and dry continuous strands of Slim Jim meat
snacks. Besides, he developed a method to triple the pickling
capacity of Penrose, Firecracker, Big Mama, and Tijuana Mama
pickled sausage snacks without adding ‘brick and mortar’.
Likewise, he designed a system to handle bulk ingredients for
the Andy Capp’s Snacks operation. And finally, Dr. Shefet Served
as a member of several task forces assigned to assist different
divisions and companies across ConAgra.
Prior to joining
ConAgra Foods, Dr. Shefet was the Director of Food Science and
Technology with FoodTech International, Inc. In this position,
he wrote and implemented the plant's first HACCP program along
the QC/QA programs. Additionally he developed and instated
pre-operation procedures aimed to reduce preparation times and
minimize quality deviations. Dr. Shefet also revised and
improved product formulations besides developing new and
improved existing product lines. Additionally, he assessed new
ingredients and equipment. Furthermore, Dr. Shefet was in
charge of instating the plant as an approved armed forces
procurement supplier. One more achievement is the establishment
and maintenance of both ‘Kosher/Parve’ and ‘Halal’
certifications, in addition to regular interaction with
supervising religious authorities.
Dr.
Shefet earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Food Science from North
Carolina State University. He is the sole inventor of 6 patents ,
and the primary inventor of another 19 patents (plus 1 pending).
He continues to stay current with the state of the art technologies
through professional development seminars and training workshops,
conferences and expos.
Dr.
Shefet is also a Certified Food Scientist (CFS). The CFS
credential is a formal global certification program, administered by
the International Food Science Certification Commission, which
recognizes the practical, applied scientific knowledge and skills
possessed by food science professionals. CFS credential holders
must pass a rigorous exam that tests them on the core professional
competencies of a food scientist, and their ability to put that
knowledge and skills into practice in a work environment.
