Baking & Snack - March 2016 - 12

A whole new ballgame

Preparation makes perfect. That's something everyone who's played sports or in any
organized team activity eventually learns. So when Gonnella Baking expanded its
Aurora, IL, bakery and added a bread and bun line that features some of the latest
advances in technology, the company made a conscious effort to invest in training its
workforce.
In fact, it held its version of a training camp before the big season started. For six
weeks prior to and during startup, Gonnella had its vendors onsite daily to train line
operators and managers to improve their skills and better understand their roles in
the bakery. To add depth to the squad, the company also hired supervisors who had
experience working with the new technology and management systems.
Today, the company is seeing its investment as a winning formula. Only four operators and a line supervisor manage the new line per shift. Moreover, many operators
are now cross-trained to work assignments ranging from mixing to packaging - or
even on the existing line, which was installed 15 years ago and, in the grand scheme of
things, isn't really that "old."
Such training is necessary because technology has made quantum leaps during
the past decade, creating a skills gap. For some employees, it's a whole new ballgame.
"Very early on in the planning period, we learned our current engineering staff didn't
have the technical skills for the complexity of the equipment that we were installing
- everything from automated case-loading equipment to robotic pan-handling systems," noted Michael Lucchesi, Gonnella's Aurora plant operations manager.
Not long ago, engineers only needed a couple of wrenches to fix anything on the
plant floor. "Today, the mechanical wrenches aren't as important as hooking up a
laptop to a piece of equipment and being able to troubleshoot it," observed Michael
Redick, Gonnella's vice-president, special operations.
Bridging the skills gap isn't a new issue for the baking industry. In 2013, the
American Bakers Association (ABA) and BEMA's Baking Industry Forum explored
the emerging problem and predicted a shortage of both maintenance personnel and
service technicians within a five-year period. The problem not only involves a shortage of skills but also retaining workers.
Three years later, the clock is ticking, and there's a sense that something's about to
explode. Fortunately, the industry is addressing this issue. Currently, ABA and the
American Society of Baking are conducting research that's designed to provide proactive approaches to help baking companies compete with other business sectors for talent. ABA will highlight the findings at its annual convention in
March and later provide an overview during one of its IBIE 2016 education sessions called, "The Workforce Gap in the US Commercial
Baking Industry: Trends, Challenges and Solutions." The session
is sure to be one of the must-attend events at the show, which
runs Oct. 8-11 in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for more information as
IBIE 2016 nears.
In the meantime at Gonnella, the training continues with vendors coming to the Aurora bakery on a quarterly basis to check
on its progress. In the end, it's all about preparation. As times
change, this is one game that's not worth leaving up to chance.
- Dan Malovany, editorial director
dmalovany@sosland.com

12 Baking & Snack March 2016 / www.bakingandsnack.com

EDITORIAL STAFF
Editorial Director
Dan Malovany
dmalovany@sosland.com
Executive Editor
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Joanie Spencer
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Senior Editor

Charlotte Atchley
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Multimedia Editor

Matt Hamer
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Contributing Editors:
Donna Berry
donnaberry@dairy-food.com
Theresa Cogswell
bakercogs@sbcglobal.net
Jim Kline
jkline@theensolgroup.com
Joe Stout
joe.stout@cf-san.com
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Baking & Snack - March 2016

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