Baking & Snack - October 2021 - 97

OPERATIONS
Running Beyond Capacity
As bakeries feel the pinch
of labor amidst increased
demand, they're
searching for more
strategies to get the most
out of their production.
by Charlotte Atchley
T
There have always been peak periods of the year for
certain bakery products: summer for hot dog and hamburger
buns and major end-of-year holidays for dessert
manufacturers. Those who bake these products anticipate
those surges in sales and plan production accordingly.
However, bakers now find themselves running at
peak production more consistently as they try to meet
the demand for baked goods brought on by the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
" We've seen that bakers who are serving retail customers,
those peaks for holidays have become every day,
and how do you deal with that? " asked Jim Kline, president
of The ENSOL Group.
It's not just high consumer demand for core breads,
rolls and sweet goods that have bakers running at or beyond
normal capacity levels.
" Prior to the pandemic, many companies had started
to close plants, " said Rowdy Brixey, president of Brixey
Engineering. " They were consolidating, or volume was
declining. The pandemic, the increase in volume and the
lack of labor created the perfect storm. "
And the implications of all these challenges have bakers
getting creative to meet their customers' needs and
help each other out.
" Through the current pandemic, bakeries have also
been running beyond normal expectations to assist sister
facilities due to issues such as labor shortages, a lack
of raw ingredients or an unplanned shutdown because
of employee illness, " explained Earl Arnold, global quality
manager, food defense and FSMA, AIB International.
Keeping production lines running at full throttle can
be damaging to equipment and tough on employees
who are already stretched thin due to a labor shortage.
Optimizing scheduling, production efficiencies and a
maintenance plan can help production run smoothly
during and after peak periods.
Getting the most from production
The production run itself is the best place to start
when trying to thrive during peak production periods.
Sometimes these periods can be anticipated, in the case of
holidays, for example. Bakers can look to the past to forecast
times during the year when demand may be higher
than normal. If that's the case, then there are things operation
teams can do to ease the burden on the line.
" One way to minimize the impact of running beyond
capacity is to slowly build up inventory in advance and
then identify ways to store and preserve product until it
is needed, " Mr. Arnold said.
Under today's unpredictable circumstances, bakers
may feel a little blindsided to these peaks compared with
something as established as bun season. But with constant
communication with customers, bakers can see what's
coming and prepare to meet their customers' needs.
" This may allow the production demands to be shared
amongst facilities to reduce the need to push production
www.bakingbusiness.com / October 2021 Baking & Snack 97
Products like
hamburger and hot dog
buns have predictable
peak seasons that
bakers can prepare
for with preventative
maintenance and
production scheduling.
Donald Phelps Photography
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - October 2021

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