Baking & Snack - October 2005 - 28

financial side and worked at various
Flowers locations in Florida, Georgia,
Alabama and Texas. He moved to the
operations side when at Jamestown,
NC, and did a stint in West Virginia
before joining the corporate staff at
Thomasville, GA.
There, he worked on the company's implementation of SAP. Later,
he returned to West Virginia. Although he got his college degree in
accounting, he described himself as
a hands-on manager. This combination of training and natural leadership makes him a person who prefers
action over introspection.
With projected annual volume at
the plant of 130 million lb, the operation is on a fast track to achieving this goal. One month after
taking possession in October 2003
equipment was ordered, and the
plant was producing salable buns
by mid-June 2004 - 32 weeks
later, which included additions to
the building, office remodeling
and new flooring in parts of the
production area.
"We ordered equipment and
started installation of the bread
line and support systems as soon
as the bun line was up and running smoothly," Mr. Wheeler said.
"Our first salable bread product was
shipped this past June - 56 weeks
after bun start-up and 89 weeks
after initial plant acquisition." Both
lines started as 2-shift operations,
and each went to three shifts within
six weeks of start-up.
With reciprocating product agreements with sister plants in the region
that further improves productivity,
Flowers adjusted distribution lines
of territories based on the new
plant's geographic location, thus
expanding territory into North Texas
and Oklahoma.
On a grand scale, corporate engineering and supply chain management procured the best technology
thanks to experience at its other facilities. The company then upgraded
and added state-of-the-art auto-

30 / BAKING & SNACK / October 2005

mation components that took the
systems to the next level of sophistication. "This facility is unique in
Flowers' system," Mr. Wheeler noted.
"The methodology of production
is similar to our Villa Rica and San
Antonio facilities, but we had the opportunity to take giant steps ahead in
automation and control."
"We talk openly with vendors
about our past successes and failures,"
Mr. Benton said in a later interview.
"Our vendors do a great job of
keeping us up to date with the latest
technological advances. We also constantly communicate with our bakery
personnel who have their own ideas
about what we can do to improve
production processes. As part of our
equipment purchasing decisions,
we also take a close look at previous
successes and weigh that against the
amount of risk we're willing to take
for a technological benefit."
Mr. Wheeler noted several examples of technology, any one of which
may not be unique but together are a
first for Flowers. A totally automated
minor ingredient storage, weigh and
feed system; ability to pump and
meter dough conditioner that has
the consistency of plastic vegetable
shortening; an automated pan storage-and-retrieval system for its three
sets of bread pans; inline dough
metal detectors; large-capacity oven
for buns; one of the largest capacity

ᮡ Five 150,000-lb outdoor silos are sufficient
for current production, although there is space
allocated for additional silos if the need arises.
bread ovens in the country; highspeed robotic product loading; and
an inline product inspection system
are just some of the advanced systems at the plant.
Final decisions on equipment and
process systems are based on several
factors. "While price is a major factor,
every vender we work with knows
that we do not purchase solely on
price," Mr. Benton said. "We would
rather spend a little more on the front
end for a piece of equipment or a
process to ensure a great start-up and
good product for the market.
"We also take a look at what vendors
can give us," he continued. "Vendor
field service and support during and
after start-up is vital. My saying is,
'You're only as good as your last start
up.' That's what people remember."
Metal detection of raw dough has
the double benefit of food safety and
machinery damage prevention. The
automated ingredient scaling system
employs super sacks, which minimizes physical lifting and waste generation. The flour dusters are automatically filled using sensors, and excess
flour is reclaimed, sifted and reused.
Automation allows one person to operate the bread oven, proofer and pan
and lid system. And the wrappers for

Baking & Snack - October 2005

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