Baking & Snack - May 2018 - 114

LINE SPEEDS

Tolerances in bagging need to be set
to accommodate a realistic range
of sizes coming out of the oven.
out of spec, it can still run because once you hit the
slicers and baggers, you stand to lose the most money,"
said Matt Stanford, vice-president, Bettendorf Stanford.
"Packaging equipment has to account for all the sins of
the bakery, so it is important new equipment can be operated smoothly on good days and bad days."
A forgiving wrapper can have a wide range of tolerances specified for the package. The tighter those tolerances, the less room for error. "If they want to keep a
nice tight package then you don' t have much variation,"
Mr. Gunnell said.
Formost Fuji accomplishes this with its adjustable
forming box, which creates the package to a set of predetermined specifications. By offering an adjustable forming box as standard on its wrappers, Formost Fuji gives
bakers the ability to vary the bag sizes to suit changing
products specifications. The company also recently developed a zoom-style forming box to create a taller and
wider wrap and move closer to the product. "Our forming box enlarges wider or taller as you zoom in or out
which gives a broader range and helps stay in the sweet
Any technology that can speed up changeovers helps operators maintain line
speeds, even in the packaging department.
AMF Bakery Systems

spot for a tighter package," Mr. Gunnell explained.
To get a tighter fit, Formost Fuji's bagger pushes the
product into the bag, and guides on the side help channel air out to keep it tight. This helps bakers avoid under- or over-proofed product.
Everything upstream impacts the efficiency of the following step in the production process. Effective bagging
will make for effective closures, for example. "The bread
has to be delivered to our twist tyer or tape applicator sufficiently, meaning the bread has to be sufficiently or all the
way into the back of the bag - not halfway in or just an
inch shy because that shortens the bag that we're trying to
twist tie," said Mitch Lindsey, technical sales, Burford Corp.
Even though closers are limited to the speed of the
entire production line ahead of it, Kwik Lok does its part
to keep things moving. The company's model 893 automatic bag closer relies on stepper motors, PLC controls
and a touch screen to reach up to 120 ppm. "We offer
optional features such as automatic speed control tied
into the bagger and a management system that monitors
product, the closure and printing cycle to determine if
the bag was closed," said Keith Hart, vice-president of
engineering, Kwik Lok. "Features such as these can improve the line output."
With its partners Ishida and CEIA, Heat and Control
offers bakers several options to help address inconsistent products. The company provides weighing, product
handling, seasoning, coating, inspection and packaging
solutions for many different products to help find the
right combination to handle a baker's specific products.
While these features and strategies can definitely keep
things moving in the packaging department, they don't
truly address the root product inconsistency. Only upstream processes can do that. "All it does is transfer the
problem to a different area," Mr. Kehrli said. "We have
to fix the beginning of the problem, and if we get a consistent product that has no deviation in it and has tight
tolerances, then we can run fast."

Upstream limitations
The speed of the packaging department depends
on the equipment directly in front of it. That
is a reality of any part of the production line.
The speed limitations of
the bread slicer will impact the bagger and the
closer, for example. It's
important for consistency of product and optimized
speeds that all sections of the
bakery work together.
Sometimes that's easy when a
supplier provides several compo-

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