Panel Discussion on Implementing Preventative Maintenace in Capital Equipment Projects
- Tampa Bay Packaging Association
- Nov 3
- 2 min read
Updated: 59 minutes ago
Panel Preview:
Implementing Preventive Maintenance in Capital Equipment Projects Â
Feb 5, 2026, 4:00 - 5:00 PM
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The Tampa Bay Packaging Open House will host a powerhouse panel discussion on Implementing Preventive Maintenance in Capital Equipment Projects, bringing together some of the most experienced engineering leaders in the food and beverage industry.
This session will explore real-world strategies for maximizing uptime, extending equipment life, and improving long-term performance—critical topics for any manufacturer planning or maintaining capital equipment investments.
Joining the panel are:
Peter Hess
For over a decade at Pepsi, Peter managed maintenance, production, and major capital projects across Southern California and Las Vegas. His cradle-to-grave oversight of manufacturing equipment provides him with a holistic understanding of the impact effective preventative maintenance makes on maximizing efficiency, uptime, and asset life.
Nate Esterline
For over 15 years in the food and beverage industry, Nate has led automation and capital engineering projects for global brands including McCormick & Company, First Quality, Snyder’s-Lance, Starbucks, and Blommer Chocolate. His experience managing large-scale system integrations, plant expansions, and equipment reliability programs gives him a comprehensive understanding of how preventive maintenance and smart engineering design drive efficiency, reduce downtime, and extend asset life across complex manufacturing operations.
Tony Vandenoever
Tony Vandenoever has dedicated his career to the food/beverage industry working over 45 years as a technical leader with several world class organizations – Frito-Lay, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Diageo, Dannon, Tropicana and PepsiCo Beverages North America. His leadership focus was in manufacturing engineering, new product development and project management. Tony retired from PBNA in June 2022 as Director of Supply Chain Engineering. This role was responsible for capacity-related capital improvement projects at over 60 manufacturing sites. He managed a team of technical project managers and project teams to implement projects with a diverse range of complexity across the entire Supply Chain and cost from several to $400 million CAPEX.
Tony received special training, implemented projects and mentored others on using a P&G’s propriety ‘Early Management’ methodology as part of an overall TPM program to ensure projects successfully have vertical start-ups. Preventative Maintenance was a key focus as part of this methodology.  The acquisition contract of each piece of capital equipment required the OEM to provide a preventative maintenance document before the FAT and progress payment.  The document was reviewed by the maintenance staff, feedback was provided in person by maintenance and engineering personnel at the FAT and a training plan was agreed on.  Typically acceptance of Preventative Maintenance document and training was part of the final payment requirements.
Tony has started a consulting business in Manufacturing Engineering, is supporting PMMI’s Emerging Brands Alliance as an Expert Advisor and is a coach at the FSO Institute.
Together, these leaders will share insights from decades of experience designing, maintaining, and improving high-performance production systems across the country. This discussion is part of the Tampa Bay Packaging Open House, a three-day regional showcase connecting manufacturers with independent packaging OEMs and industry experts. Don’t miss this session, register today!