Baking & Snack - August 2018 - 144

featured innovation center

HANDTMANN: IDEAS BECOME A REALITY
The long journey from a brainstorming session to developing a
final bakery or snack product requires time, patience and work.
An area for sharing knowledge and experimenting with the latest
in technology is also necessary, and the Handtmann Technology
Center, located in Biberach, Germany, not only seeks to provide
these tools, but it also strives to foster creativity and discussion.
As concepts are born and grown into realities, Handtmann's innovation center works alongside companies, allowing them to focus
on each small step of progress in the process while staying aware
of overall developments - further upstream, downstream and
everywhere in between - for making a successful end product.
The approximately 43,000-sq-ft Technology Center was expanded in 2017 and is Handtmann's main innovation center in
Europe followed by its locations in Lake Forest, IL, and Waterloo,
ON. The new center is actually separated into two buildings to
allow more companies to experiment at the same time. With
the core statement being "ideas for the future," Handtmann's
center provides a hands-on environment and a platform for
trail-and-error-research.
"We use our Technology Centers to assist customers during
their R&D processes for new and existing products, to validate the
feasibility of our equipment for their products when evaluating
new Handtmann equipment, and to conduct factory acceptance
testing before the final installation at their bakeries," said Martin
Rössler, industry manager for marketing and sales.
Despite already having innovation centers in the US and
Canada, Handtmann created the Technology Center in Germany
with North American bakeries and snack producers in mind.

144 Baking & Snack August 2018 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Whether customers are in the area touring bakeries, attending
trade shows or even visiting Handtmann, the centers are easily accessible. "As our Technology Center in Germany is better
equipped, it provides immediate benefits for our North American
bakery customers at the very time when their evaluation metrics
are more detailed and fact-based," said Cesar Zelaya, bakery sales
and technology manager. "Our customers indicated that more
production flexibility, equipment reliability and the total cost of
ownership are more important than ever."
From the formulation process to final product, innovation requires a variety of equipment, and the center has everything from
dough dividers and depositors to forming, extruding, portioning and cutting machines. Additionally, it includes a spiral mixer,
sourdough fermentation tank, convection oven, electric deck oven
and automatic proofing unit. Mr. Zelaya noted that the Technology
Center complements the company's facilities in its US and Canadian
offices by also demonstrating the advantages of its adjustable vane
cell technology, which has a shorter product path, reduced temperature rise and gentle handling for improved quality and productivity.
A variety of machines allows baking and snack companies to
develop and evaluate a long list of products. "The portfolio ranges
from artisan baked goods made of ancient grains through products
from other cultures such as naan bread from India to fitness protein bars, snacks to go and industrially produced discount goods,"
Mr. Rössler said. He added that the center also offers equipment
solutions for the dairy, meat and pet food industry that bakers and
snack producers can experiment with and learn about during visits.
The center includes conference and training rooms, which have

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Baking & Snack - August 2018

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