Equipment manufacturers continue to innovate and develop depositing equipment with additional features, so bakers can create new products for an ever-changing marketplace. Unifiller offers electronic-controlled servo piston depositors. “We can control the speed, the portion, the speed of the piston, the speed of the deposit, the portion size automatically from a central PLC,” said Stewart MacPherson, vice-president of sales and marketing, Unifiller Systems.

Another recent introduction from Unifiller is a one-turn deposit speed control for its air-controlled piston depositors. Operators would adjust a knob by turning it multiple times, never really knowing where they set it, and as Mr. MacPherson said, “You were just eyeballing or guessing the speed.” However, it engineered a new one-turn dial where operators can actually set the speed from 0 to 100, which allows them to make more accurate deposits.

Some of Hinds-Bock’s recent innovations, according to Lance Aasness, vice-president of sales and marketing, include servo-driven and quick-changeover machines, as well as operator-friendly adjustments through interface panels. Another introduction is the Hinds-Bock high-fat targeted streusel depositor with an auxiliary spreading unit. It’s designed to work with high-fat products that tend to pack and bridge, and interchangeable die plates can change the appearance of the streusel dispensed.

Bakeries are constantly looking to make unique products, and Reiser offers quick change out dies that allow its customers to make everything from Christmas trees to shamrocks, according to John McIsaac, vice-president, strategic business development, Reiser. “Often customers desire a random shape,” he noted. “Our latest attachments can form balls that look like they were delivered from a hand ice cream scoop. The major difference being we can deliver a hundred a minute — with no hands.”

Whereas piston depositors are typically used for products that have inclusions, Bob Peck, vice-president of engineering, E.T. Oakes Corp., said Oakes is working on a pressurizedmanifold system that would be able to handle inclusions.

The latest innovation from Haas-Meincke is the possibility to produce center-filled products with big inclusions. “We are constantly improving our existing equipment and developing new accessories for it,” said Harald Bechmann, content manager and senior editor, marketing department, Franz Haas Waffel- und Keksanlagen-Industrie GmbH. “The desire to reduce cost or improve a machine is one reason for new developments, but mostly it is the requirements and ideas from customers, which are boosting innovation.”

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