No ‘I’ in team
Smoothly choreographing production requires an organization based on teamwork in more ways than one. In addition to commercialization and project teams, the operation relies on sustainability, safety and process improvement teams to get employees involved in creating a better workplace.
From a management perspective, Mr. Nasti works closely with President Richard Auskalnis on strategic initiatives as well as Gerardo Del Rio, bakery production manager; Jesus Morales, topping production manager; Vincent Meakins, chief engineer; Armando Rodriguez, sanitation manager; Teresa Martinez, vice-president, quality assurance; and Lori Bruner, human resources manager.
Production runs three 8-hour shifts, 24 hours a day anywhere from seven to 13 days consecutively, depending on seasonal and customer demand, according to Mr. Del Rio. Located on 11 acres, the facility allocates 65,500 sq ft to processing, 20,000 sq ft for a centralized packaging department, 40,000 sq ft to warehousing and the remainder for office, freezer and other ancillary space.
Bulk flour is stored in four Shick indoor, enclosed 100,000-lb silos. Two silos are dedicated to each bakery line. The plant also has two cream yeast systems as well as a bulk tank for oil. All minor and micro dry ingredients are prescaled into tubs, creating the premix for each batch. The tubs are then bar-coded to establish a traceable chain of control from the beginning of the process. They are then palletized and shrinkwrapped to ensure BRC compliance.
Overall, the bakery is divided into two lines — Line No. 1 houses a Rheon makeup system, and Line No. 2 uses a Rademaker operation. Two Peerless 1,600-lb horizontal mixers feed Line No. 1 and three mixers supply Line No. 2.
After mixing, the dough on Line No. 1 is dumped into a trough and elevated to the hopper, where a chunker feeds the Rheon line to create a 52-in. wide, low-stress sheet. The dough starts out at 48 mm thick, but after traveling through a series of cross rollers, stretching rollers and reduction systems — as well as various flour dusting stations — it ends up as thin as 2 mm. The cross rollers and stretchers establish the proper width of the dough while the reduction system ensures the optimum final thickness.
After passing through a docking system, the dough encounters various die cutters that create round or square pieces ranging from 4 to 16 in. in diameter. Nation takes rework from the cutters and conveys it to dough troughs located above the mixers. The recycled dough is incorporated at a controlled rate into the mix to add flavor, tenderness and elasticity to the final doughs, according to Mr. Del Rio.
All pieces are either cold or not-pressed — never hot. Depending on the product’s size, the line can crank out 180 to 920 pieces a minute. Following die cutting, the pieces drop into pans via a retractable conveyor.
After traveling through a Northfield single-spiral proofer for several minutes depending on type of crust— time, temperature and humidity vary dramatically depending on the type of crust — depositors then apply oil. Another docking station degasses the dough pieces prior to entering a Capway oven loader and a new Senius proprietary-design direct-fired oven with six zones. Mr. Del Rio noted temperatures per zone vary — typically ranging from 300°F to as high as 700°F. Baking times can be as short as two minutes or as long as 12, depending on the type of crust.
After passing through a Capway vacuum depanner, the crusts travel through a JBT/Northfield spiral freezer set at -32°F for several minutes depending on type of crust. Crusts receive Safeline and Loma metal detection before they are manually stacked and cartoned.
On Line No. 2, Mr. Del Rio said, the newer Rademaker 54-in. makeup system offers 30% faster speeds and 50% greater capacity. The mixing process is similar to Line No. 1, with rework incorporated into the dough batches. However, the second line uses an extruder, not a chunker, to feed the makeup line.
During Baking & Snack’s tour, Nation was making 6.5-in. deep-dish crusts. Mr. Del Rio added that a separate, second makeup line — not in operation at the time — is available for stuffed and other specialty crusts.
To create deep-dish crusts, the extruded sheet travels through an initial gauging station and cross roller, then to three additional gauging stations that gently reduce the sheet to as thin as 2 mm. After docking to ensure the products maintain their shape during proofing and baking, the crusts are die-cut and placed into cavity or flat pans.
Depending on the product’s size and line speed, dough pieces may run in either of two Northfield proofers. “Some products just require much longer proofing times,” Mr. Del Rio noted. Products are baked in a Meincke oven with nine zones to offer a blend of high-capacity and versatility. Each zone can be set at a different temperature to custom-bake the items. Following a brief cooling, products travel to one of two Northfield spiral freezers.
