IBIE - 2019 Special Edition & Show Preview - 70

MAXIMIZING EFFICIENCY

"It's important to purchase the packaging machinery that is
capable of maximizing the output of the production line."
Mike Timani, Fancy Pokket

year cost per pound for a specific time period. After
adjusting for inflation, raises, utilities and other variables the operations team typically cannot control,
compare these year-over-year numbers for waste, scaling, downtime, overtime and other controllable factors. "Look at 'cost per pound' versus 'cost per unit' because it eliminates factors like loaf size and bake times,"
Mr. Brixey advised.

Ramping up a new line

Investing in technology
eliminates bottlenecks by
replacing underperforming systems on a
production line.

Maximizing efficiency will attain peak performance over
the long run. However, it's often not technology but the
human element that ultimately determines the successful startup of a new production line. That's an issue many
bakers will face following their investments at IBIE.
When starting up a line, Jeff Dearduff, president and
CEO, Gold Standard Baking, Chicago, always includes
key operators, maintenance and sanitation personnel
from the beginning. "When equipment is coming in the
back door and being bolted together, make sure your people are joined at the hip with vendors," he advised.
"It's one thing to read manuals and look at videos, but
it's another thing to be side-by-side with somebody who
has done it and can say, 'Never mind what that manual
says. Here's what you've really got to do.' Nothing beats
shoulder-to-shoulder shadowing during the assembly of
that equipment. It's one thing to learn how to build and
care for the machine, and it's another to know how to
run it."
Test wiring and input/output connections on the equipment. Verify that all sensors work, and communications
paths are properly set. And yes, examine each moving
part. "That could be everything from shafts being straight,
belts being aligned properly, packaging machines being
set up correctly," Mr. Dearduff said. "All of those physical
aspects of the line sometimes get missed because people
focus on the control side of it. It's still an old-fashioned
bakery when you look at it. Nuts and bolts."
Mike Timani, president and CEO of Fancy Pokket,
Moncton, NB, stressed that bakers should monitor how
products move from one piece of equipment to another.
"Transfers are usually the killer from one conveyor to
another or from a conveyor to an oven," he said. "These
are the areas that really need to be well thought out when
you are purchasing the equipment to minimize additional labor on the line after it begins running. It's important to purchase the packaging machinery that is ca-

70 PreShow Guide IBIE 2019

pable of maximizing the output of the production line."
Mr. Dearduff urged front-end controls. "From a processing standpoint, first make sure all your metering and
scale hoppers are correct, and make sure everything is
food safe as well," he said. "If you don't have that right, it
doesn't matter if you can package it or not."
He added that the entire startup will take days,
weeks or months, depending on the project's scope.
Subsequently, work in stages when it comes to ramping
up to salable products. "The best approach is to bring
the speed up in small increments over a week's period,"
Mr. Dearduff said. "If you're 50% up-to-speed on
Monday, then go to 60% on Tuesday, and work your way
up over a week or two."
Once the line is operating, he added, bakers need to
focus on training to enhance yield as part of an overall
continuous improvement program. The road to excellence is a journey that never ends.

IBIE - 2019 Special Edition & Show Preview

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