Tour de force

At the Servon-sur-Vilaine bakery over the years, Mr. Le Grand has seen the impact of Bridor’s growth with his own eyes. In 2001, when he joined Bridor, the operation produced 15,000 tonnes of products annually. “Last year, we made 100,000 tonnes,” he said.

To keep up with demand, Bridor in 2014 installed a Rademaker high-speed production line that makes more than 5 tonnes or up to 65,000 pieces an hour. By comparison, the throughput on the bakery’s other sheeting and laminating lines averages around 1,500 to 2,000 kg an hour. Because proper development of the dough requires up to five hours of rest and fermentation time, the total length of the conveyor belt and proofer on the new line is 3 km (1.9 miles). In many ways, it’s a high-volume, long-process operation.

Overall at the BRC-certified facility, production runs 24 hours, five to six days a week with maintenance and sanitation during downtime. About 800 employees work at the Servon-sur-Vilaine bakery with 400 in production, 80 in sanitation and maintenance, 10 in R&D and the remainder in various other roles. However, only eight operators work in the production area on the new croissant line, which has an accuracy level of ±1% or less. Several more work in packaging.

Walking through the bakery, visitors can observe how technology and automation have advanced over the years, from the original semi-automated line to the newest one. The bakery expanded in 2006 and 2009 and is now 70% larger than the original building.

A combination of Esteve and Zeppelin systems make up ingredient handling. Twelve flour silos — five 60-tonne silos and seven 30-tonne silos — supply the bakery with a variety of flour. The plant has two 35-tonne liquid chocolate tanks, one 60-tonne sugar silo and two 50-tonne liquid yeast tanks.

Production on the new croissant line begins in a ­temperature-controlled room set at 10°C, with a 5-tonne VMI continuous mixer, where bulk ingredients are added automatically while minor ones are added manually.

After mixing, the dough is chunked out and travels via a belt to the hopper on the Rademaker low-stress extruder, which creates a dough sheet with 17-mm thickness initially. The sheet passes through side rollers that push the dough together before it enters a 12-roller quick reducer station, cross-roller and flour dusting systems to make a thin, 600-mm wide sheet. Scrap from the trimmers is conveyed back to the mixing area for incorporation into future doughs.

After additional flour dusting, a Rademaker fat pump adds exact amounts of butter. Folding belts cause the dough to enclose the butter, and the sheet enters a second reducer station to create a consistent, sealed sheet.