Baking & Snack - February 2022 - 76

BUNS & ROLLS PROCESSING
Mr. Hagedorn said digitally controlled dividers that
support rapid changeovers make a huge difference in
operational efficiencies.
" Smart systems can help plan production and automatically
retrieve, set and monitor parameters for hundreds
of products while providing step-by-step setup
guidance to operators and automatically block
common setup errors, " he explained. " This
efficiency eliminates the time-wasters, errors
and other variables from operator input
by automating many common functions
like changing attachments, sizes, shapes or
pan configurations. Digital controls also enable
excellent data collection for traceability
and allow managers to oversee their operations
remotely. "
Mr. Murphy sees digital controls advancing
at an ever-increasing pace.
" Vision and robotic technology can replace
human eyes and hands with such tasks
as scoring products, sorting for quality, picking
Today's versatile
dividers crank
out high-speed
hamburger buns and
high-quality variety
rolls, many times
with just a tweak of
the settings.
Reiser
justments required upon restart. AMF Bakery Systems,
for instance, offers an extrusion divider that can create
multiple products with various scaling weights with no
change parts required.
" With our digital controls, changing products and
weight is as easy as selecting a new recipe on the operator
touch screen, " said Daniel Habel, product team
leader, AMF Flex, a part of AMF Bakery Systems. " With
multiple makeup lines, coordinated through a system
like AMF Connect, changeover from one product
and placing raw dough pieces and baked goods as well
as quality control sorting and inspection of finished
goods, " he said.
In the baking industry, the latest inspection technology
now ensures quality control, reduces waste and assists
with labor shortages, noted Jon Gilchrist, engineering
manager, KPM Analytics.
to
another can be instantaneous while reducing oven load
fluctuations as well as potential operator errors caused
by the normal rush of changeovers. "
Mr. Hughes observed that digital controls that automatically
adjust various components on high-speed
production lines save time, labor and operator error. He
noted Burford's Smart Bun Pan Shaker can communicate
with upstream panning equipment to automatically
switch to different product varieties to expedite changeovers
without operator input.
Overall, Mr. McIsaac said, most high-volume bakeries
operate in a recipe-driven world. If no mechanical
changes are needed, changeovers can be done simply
with touch screens and little else.
" We customize our HMI screens in conjunction with
the plants to make sure every adjustment the operator
needs is intuitive, and adjustments that they do not need
are hidden, " he said. " Each adjustment has a pop-up that
explains in the simplest of terms exactly what it does. "
76 Baking & Snack February 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
MANY NEWER LINES
NOW COME WITH RECIPE
MANAGEMENT CONTROLS
THAT OFFER QUICK
CHANGEOVERS WITH FEW,
IF ANY, ADJUSTMENTS
REQUIRED UPON RESTART.
" Vision inspection systems provide objective visual
measurements of a wide variety of parameters, including
some that have not previously been part of quality
control assessments using manual methods, " he said.
Mr. Gilchrist added that the system provides more
precise measurements of product size, shape and color
characteristics. It also gathers data on the placement and
coverage of seeds on buns and rolls.
" Collecting this level of detail was not possible using
traditional methods, " he said. " The vision inspection
measurements provide factual data for quality control
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