Baking&Snack - February 2014 - 56

MILE HI BAKERY

(From left) John Borowski,
vice-president, corporate
services and bakery; Marc
McCarty, production superintendent; and Donald David,
production/QA supervisor,
monitor topping and seeding
operations that take place
on the extended run-out
between proofer and oven.
(Right photo) Dough balls fall
through a shower of dusting
flour as they move from the
rounding table into the bun
makeup system.

temperature balances. And heat generated by the catalytic oxidizer, reburning oven exhaust at 1,200°F, supplies the plant's heating and hot water needs. The oxidizer eliminates 95% of VOCs in the exhaust stream, which
more than meets the regulations of Denver's air quality
district.
The existing 21 domed skylights were replaced with
prismatic structures. "These bring in significantly more
natural light than standard domes," Mr. Sanchez said.
Lighting technologies in the plant combine low-mercury
systems and LED lights for the offices, conference room,
freezer and fitness areas. Multilevel lighting and occupancy sensors automatically control with step dimming
features. In all, lighting accounts for more than 17% in
all energy savings.
Equipment choices also earned LEED points for improving energy use. Mile Hi managers estimated that the
production line consumes 80% of the energy used in the
building, but it also provides roughly half of the energy
savings earned by the new bakery. For example, energyefficient SEW Eurodrive variable frequency drives power the mixers and conveyors.
Sustainability is a company-wide commitment. In
2013, Mile Hi Foods was named Sustainability Company
of the Year by the Colorado Women's Chamber of
Commerce for its workplace culture that supports sustainability efforts. During the same year, Mile Hi received the Green Fleet Award from the Colorado Motor
Carriers Association.

Following the line
The new Mile Hi Bakery devotes the bulk of its space
to processing (60,000 sq ft), packaging (5,000 sq ft) and
warehousing (80,000 sq ft). The single-line operation
has room to add two more lines. "This building is for
today and the future." Mr. Taddonio said.
Mile Hi's food processing operations hold SQF Level
3 certification for food safety, achieved in 2012 and renewed the following year at the same level. "We're going
for ISO 14001 this year," said John Borowski, vice-president, corporate services and bakery, Mile Hi Foods.
The company again chose Stewart Systems as its lead

56 Baking & Snack February 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

equipment vendor, the same at its first bakery. The line is
fully integrated with Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus color
touchscreen control terminals at each operator station
throughout the plant.
Not everything happens inside the bakery, however.
Mile Hi installed its bulk tanks outside the building.
The Pfening system holds flour, liquid shortening, liquid sugar and cream yeast. Tanks are heated or cooled to
match environmental conditions, but mainly it's Mother
Nature who handles such matters. "Outdoor installation
is possible because we get 300 days of Colorado sunshine in Denver," Mr. Borowski observed.
Plant configuration features straight-line layout for
its processing equipment. "The in-line design eliminates
a lot of the curves you'd find in a typical square-box
bakery layout," Mr. Sanchez said.
The result is an open, airy installation. "With this
much open space, it's much easier to work here," Mr.
Taddonio noted. Most conveyors run overhead except
where waist-high access is required. There's been no
need to install step bridges to help operators climb over
the line.
Computers automatically deliver bulk dry and liquid
ingredients to the Pfening supply hoppers above the
Shaffer (Bundy Baking Solutions) mixers, but for handling smaller ingredients, the company established a
separate scaling room at the front of the line. Operators
weigh dry minor and micro ingredients in batches.
Following the production schedule, the operator pours
the batched materials into the Pfening bag dump to be
pneumatically blended and sent to the mixers. Liquid
ingredients are incorporated via a QDS slurry mixer and
transferred to the mixers. Bulk totes containing liquid
ingredients are also housed in this ingredient room.
"In batching, we deliberately use a less sophisticated
system," Mr. Sanchez explained. The system provides the
desired flexibility Mile Hi wanted because it's computerinterlocked, requiring operator acknowledgment of each
batch.
The bakery follows sponge-and-dough methods to
prepare its buns. Two Shaffer mixers stand side-by-side.
The smaller prepares sponges, which are dumped into

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