Baking & Snack - April 2022 - 65

EQUIPMENT
Sheeting & Laminating
DOING MORE WITH LESS
B
Bakeries get innovative with sheeting and laminating to bolster
efficiency and boost throughput with a smaller workforce.
by Dan Malovany
Baking may be a labor of love, but bakers aren't loving it
when it comes to today's labor shortage. It's not only about
having enough people to get the job done, but it's also about
doing the job right.
That's why so many bakers are turning to automation
or upgrading their current systems to assist with a
plethora of potentially problematic issues ranging from
ensuring product quality and food safety to meeting the
growing demand for baked goods.
" It is important to have reliability and consistency in
your equipment, " said John Giacoio, vice president of sales,
Rheon USA. " Hiring people has never been so challenging
as it is now. We have been able to provide centralized controls
and line operation from a tablet. The ability to monitor
a bakery's line with limited staff helps to reduce the
need for skilled labor to run the line. "
No silver bullet will make the problem go away, but bakers
can take steps to manage the workforce dilemma.
" You have to create a working environment that satisfies
key areas such as maintenance, sanitation, operator
friendliness, " noted Nick Magistrelli, vice president of sales,
Rademaker USA. " The evolution of the Rademaker design
has been focused on this for the last few years. "
Despite the length and complexity of a bakery's sheeting
and laminating lines, which can extend up to 200 feet or
more, production requires relatively few people.
While hand-forming and shaping of elaborate pastries
may require more than a handful of skilled operators to
twist, turn and tie dough pieces into artistic masterpieces,
advances in technology are steadily tackling tasks that
seemed impossible to automate a decade ago. Moreover,
today's systems simplify upkeep with the latest in sanitary
design.
Bakers aren't working with a blank sheet of paper when
it comes to solving the workplace conundrum.
" Hygienic design and cleaning without tools are key
benefits for users of AMF Tromp sheeting and laminating
lines, " said Hans Besems, executive product manager, AMF
Tromp, an AMF Bakery Systems brand. " Labor will continue
to become a scarcity in the coming decade. But because
of automation of processes in sheeting lines, fewer operators
are needed for running them successfully. "
Simplify to rectify
Integrating operator friendliness is one way for bakeries to
address their skilled labor shortage. Sometimes it's as easy
as making digital controls or an HMI more human than
machine-oriented. That requires these devices to " think "
like a baker instead of like an IT technician or the engineer
who designed the production line.
" There was a time where an HMI would be prepared
with these really challenging settings where operators
would have to provide very detailed adjustments to make a
simple line change, like an increase in speed or the opening
www.bakingbusiness.com / April 2022 Baking & Snack 65
Today's laminating
lines often come
with controls that
automatically adjust
production during
changeovers to
make croissants
and other pastries.
Rademaker USA
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - April 2022

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