It’s important to place ingredient handling in the scheme of a 10-year plan, but a baker must also think about how day-to-day operations can affect the project. In other words, to avoid scope creep, think in specifics without being short-sighted.
Having a solid grasp on the formulation and product matrix — as well as any anticipated changes— is a key factor in a smooth process. “To design an optimal system, we need customers to first inform us what they want to make and how much they plan to make of it,” Mr. Davis said. “From this starting point, we can guide them toward the type of system that would best suit their needs.”
For example, Mr. Davis cautioned bakers against reformulating until after an installation is complete. “Though our systems are designed with flexibility in mind, drastic changes can cause the system to be completely redesigned and will slow the installation process,” Mr. Davis said.
When going through the design of an ingredient handling system, the baker must always consider the almighty ingredients. For instance, minors need major consideration. “If a customer knew a plant was going to deal with a lot of different formulas and a lot of different ingredients, then putting some foresight into how that’s going to be laid out or designed to accommodate certain conditions could have a substantial impact on the design,” Mr. Schmelzle said.
While there might not be one particular type of ingredient that is more problematic to a system design than another, each one poses its own challenges and opportunities, according to Mr. Stricker. “For liquids, it’s about making sure there’s an opportunity for multiple delivery or pumping systems,” he said. “For dry ingredients, it’s about having the right provisions for multiple draw points.”
Ingredients such as sugar require attention. “If we do a new sugar system, we likely need dehumidification on all the pneumatic transfer systems because moisture getting into the transfer is a big issue,” Mr. Hunter said. “When you go into an automated plant, it’s even more important to manage that. The loss in production if you don’t design these types of things in the beginning is huge.”
Having the flexibility to accommodate allergens is another scenario that bakers must consider up front.
“When you’ve got allergens such as soy, milk and eggs, there has to be a mechanism that can get in there and clean the system,” Mr. Hunter explained.
Today, cleanability is a critical issue for any type of ingredient, and the Food Safety Modernization Act doesn’t make anything easier on the baker. AZO takes this into consideration early in the design process, such as with its newly redesigned bag dump system. “The new design is made up of fewer components so there are fewer welds,” Mr. Kerwin noted, adding that the clean-in-place nozzle requires the system to be designed with a drain below. “This is a completely new idea for pneumatic conveying,” he said.
In terms of system design, majors and minors don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, staying mindful of one in terms of the other will make for an easier process. Designing a system for major ingredients with the possibility of adding on minors later requires a much different strategy than without.
“If a customer invests in the major ingredients but is considering adding on a system for minors, we can take a design approach that can allow us to add on in the future,” Mr. Hunter said.
Ingredient handling plays a critical role in automated bakery operations. When designing a system to handle the future of a finished product, bakers must think about the future of the production, facility and market conditions. But they don’t have to do that alone. “To make life easier in the future, bakers should engage suppliers and rely on our expertise,” Mr. Stricker said.
But bakers don’t have a crystal ball, and suppliers aren’t mind readers; collaboration is key. “People become fearful because they truly can’t see the future. Suppliers understand that and can interview out the more likely scenarios and have up-front provisions to make the project — and the final system— easier in the future,” Mr. Stricker said.
