“The new plant means we can produce an innovative range of pre-mixed ingredients, many of which will be fresh to the UK.” Read the full case study on how Matcon transformed a British bakeries manufacturing facility for improved productivity and efficiency while maintaining peak quality produce…
What’s Important to a Bakery Manufacturing Process
Baking facilities these days need an agile system that suits small batch runs with numerous recipe varieties. In addition to this they need to safely handle allergens and reduce the risks of contamination.
A Baking Manufacturers Story
A British, 100-year-old company manufactures and supplies the global baking market with high quality produce. They supply a wide range of customer types from individual craft bakers to high street and supermarket chains.
In 2012, they decided to begin an investment strategy to increase their product portfolio bringing it up-to-date to meet with current consumer demands. They contacted Matcon to help them implement the right solution to achieve their new goals:
- Increased production capability
- Recipe flexibility to meet with changing consumer demands
- Utilise the current factory space rather than build a new facility
Their Original Equipment Set Up
The bakery manufacturer's core powder blending factory consisted of two fixed mixers one with the capacity of 2,000kg and another with the capacity of 1,500kg. A conveyor system fed these fixed mixers from silos of bulk ingredients such as flour and sugar. The other ingredients were then added from bags and sacks using mechanical conveyors. The fixed mixers coupled to the packing lines which filled bags of pre-mixes, commonly used by bakeries.
Quite quickly it was realised that with their current fixed system, capacity was already at its optimum but without the flexibility of allowing smaller batch runs to be executed and a need to increase production levels. The production process meant they had to suffer 22% downtime while the fixed system was cleaned between recipes. Inventory was also high along with wasted product, so a change was desperately needed.
If this customer’s issues resonate with you and you would like advice on how to improve your specific manufacturing needs feel free to contact us.
The Dramatic Transformation in This Case
The introduction of Matcon’s equipment transformed the original processing system and ensured that no additional factory space was necessary as it works alongside the original fixed system in a previously unused part of the factory. The IBC system is now used to deliver smaller, high variety batch runs, particularly those that use potential allergens. The existing system then continues to produce the high volume, low changeover recipes.
What Equipment the Bakery Needed
The original factory space received these additional systems:
- Sack tipping for filling the IBCs
- IBC Blending & Intensifier
- Feeding to single FFS packing
- 2000L stainless steel IBCs
The Matcon system enabled the introduction of small batch production, no more downtime for the mixer to be loaded, mixed or cleaned and no waiting for the packing lines to finish a batch before re-filling the mixer.
“We can now offer an enhanced product range, better flexibility of pack sizes, along with significantly enhanced quality assurance and customer service.”
-Operations Engineering Manager
In the case study you'll discover how a Matcon system helped to transform their production capacity, capabilities and savings, increasing their ROI and batch flexibility.
For more information on tumble blending, download the blending infographic below or visit the industrial mixing resource page, which contains tips, advice and best practice for manufacturers blending powder based products.
