Baking & Snack - March 2024 - 85

OPERATIONS
Smart Manufacturing
Looking on the Bright Side
S
Companies shine a light on how to harness data and leverage
automation to take their businesses to the next level.
by Dan Malovany
Smart manufacturing is much more than shiny steel systems
and the latest in technology. Bakeries and snack
producers strategically use these advances in automation
to identify emerging opportunities that come from their
capital spending. That's what the management team at
Fantasy Cookie realized recently.
To expand and broaden its operation and customer
base, the Sylmar, Calif.-based cookie and bar comanufacturer
completely remodeled its Arroyo Street
facility and replaced one of its three aging production
lines. Specifically, the company invested in a new
2,200-lb Peerless mixer with a versatile Reading Bakery
Systems makeup line and state-of-the-art 100-foot tunnel
oven that bolsters capacity by 30% or more.
For Russ Case, chief executive officer, the investment
not only provided enhanced quality and capacity, but it
also created several new avenues of growth.
" We had a couple of inquiries about nut-free products,
and we were like, 'Hey, wait a second. This is a
brand new bakery,' " he pointed out. " This is a new oven.
It's never processed with nuts, so we turned this facility
into a nut-free operation. "
Already, he added, the new production line is paying
dividends, with two major new customers coming onboard
and potentially another on the way.
" We got that business for two reasons. One was because
of the new oven and the new capabilities that we
have, " Case said. " It's not only made us more competitive
with our operating costs and pricing, but then there's
the nut-free claim that our customers can now make on
their products. "
For Fantasy Cookie, the hybrid oven is also simple to run
with its programmable features that control time, temperature
and turbulence and reflect the products' precise specifications,
noted Joe Rivera, vice president of operations.
" This oven has the ability to be more intuitive in many
ways, " he said. " You set it up, put it on to monitor, and it
maintains that temperature and other conditions. "
The mixer establishes front-end controls, which will become
increasingly critical during the hot summer months
when ice is often added to keep doughs cool. Moreover,
co-extrusion enables the bakery to broaden its nutrition
and snack bar portfolio with the potential to offer a greater
number of allergen-free and other better-for-you products.
" Co-extrusion has been pretty hot right now because
there's a limited amount of capacity for co-manufacturers, "
Case explained.
Moreover, the line's three flowwrappers allow Fantasy
Cookie to bolster its retail capabilities.
" Probably 75% to 80% of the volume that's going to
come off this line will be individually wrapped products, "
Case said.
www.bakingbusiness.com / March 2024 Baking & Snack 85
Many bakeries are
using robots and
cobots to eliminate
repetitive tasks and
heavy lifting to create
a more employeefriendly
and safe
environment.
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Baking & Snack - March 2024

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