Baking&Snack - November 2016 - 80

INGREDIENT HANDLING

Recipe management
improves consistency by
ensuring every step of the
process is executed the
same way every time.
Fred D. Pfening Co.

cell phone is obsolete in six months, and the stage is
set for much more cost-effective, user-intuitive and
readily available recipe and data management in the
modern factory."
With the latest tools of the software trade enhancing ingredient handling systems, bakers can
streamline their production, track ingredients to
FDA's latest standards and also reap the benefits of
data management.

Technology streamlined
The latest updates to data and recipe management
software are all about streamlining. Much of this
comes down to integrating software systems and
making it possible for equipment to communicate
with one another. That helps fulfill the promise of
enterprise resource planning (ERP), materials requirements planning (MRP) and other data-driven
business management systems.
"One of the biggest trends we've seen over the
past few years is customers' increasing interest in integrating their upfront business systems," said Jason
Stricker, director of sales and marketing, Shick
Solutions. "ERP, MRP, accounting software, those
types of things - the integration of Shick Solutions'
Automated Ingredient Management (AIM) production management software into those systems decreases labor needed for data entry and reduces the
risk of data entry errors."
By integrating ERP/MRP systems with AIM, bakers can track costs and other metrics in the ERP system while also being able to unify batching operations simultaneously, and bakers get the best of both
worlds, according to Travis Stoll, manager of IT/IS,
Shick Solutions. The result is a total solution for cost
and batch reporting.
Just as technology makes it easier to connect in the
outside world, the bakery floor is no different. As machines are more and more automated and control is
handed over to computers, it has become easier and
more standard to link them together.
"Batching systems now are easily tied directly
to ingredient-usage reporting data-and-inventory
control systems that can feed reports that are current and accurate," said Doug Hale, vice-president
of operations, Dunbar Systems, Inc. "As technology
improves, we have become more connected with
third-party software such as ERP systems."
As a part of its continual improvements,
Gemini/KB Systems works with third-party software developers to bridge gaps in data communication between PLC-controlled operations on the
plant floor and the office PCs. "These steps have

80 Baking & Snack November 2016 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Making software easier to use
As software that controls ingredient handling
systems becomes more sophisticated in what
it can accomplish, it also must become easier
for operators to use. If the daily operator cannot easily navigate the system, it loses much
of its potency.
Ease-of-use means operators can quickly
make changes to recipes with little difficulty.
Shick Solutions' AIM software allows bakers to
make recipe changes without having to modify
the PLC code. This makes the ingredient handling system nimble and flexible as well as easy
for operators to use.
The Fred D. Pfening Co. improved its operator interface to enable users to do maintenance
without the IT department present. This makes
the system much more accessible and easier
to work with, important factors because some
companies may not have their own IT departments. Fred D. Pfening also encourages bakeries to install VPN remote access on its ingredient
handling systems. This allows bakers to check
inventory levels and production outputs from
any PC, tablet or smartphone app, even offsite.
"Bakers have been able to use that a lot as
well, allowing them remote access without having to be at the plant 24/7," said Adam Jacobs,
electrical engineer, The Fred D. Pfening Co.

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