Baking & Snack - June 2023 - 27

IS YOUR PROCESS
HURTING PROFITS?
" WE FILL A UNIQUE NEED FOR
PERMISSIBLE INDULGENCE IN
THE COOKIE CATEGORY. OUR
PRODUCTS ARE FULL-FLAVORED
AND YET YOU FEEL GOOD
ABOUT EATING THEM. "
Mike Senackerib, Dewey's Bakery
keeps close tabs on overall equipment efficiency (OEE),
throughput, waste and other production percentages
through Excel spreadsheets. He shares those daily KPIs
each week with the leadership team, which ensures visibility
and accountability.
" Operational efficiency has been a guiding star for us, "
he said. " Educating our team, really enforcing the fact that
numbers drive the business. Numbers tell the story. "
The company used to have a large TV on the production
room floor to display production efficiency and output
numbers but found it was too easy to ignore, so a dry erase
board was put up in its place. Supervisors on the line can
now update numbers throughout the shift.
" That has been remarkable, " Mr. Catlett said. " We have
our shift supervisors on the line track the data and input
it. They break out the calculators and do it the old-school
method, but that gives them a sense of ownership. And it
incorporates a little friendly competition between our shifts
and teams. We've also been able to avoid losing momentum
from shift change. For second shift, our key operators come
in 10 to 15 minutes early, and they go over numbers with
our first-shift operators, study the board and see what went
well and what didn't go well. The transition from shift to
shift is as smooth as possible. "
Mr. Catlett's goal is to get to 85% of OEE, which he said
was an industry standard best-in-class.
" We're not there yet, but over the past year and a half that
we've been tracking it, we're trending positively, " Mr. Catlett
said. " And with continued automation, it's allowed us to get
there a little bit quicker. "
These goals can't be executed, however, without a welltrained
workforce. The company provides educational opportunities
and seeks to promote workers from within the
organization.
Dewey's Bakery trains workers with monthly courses
they must complete using Intertek Alchemy, which provides
guidance on food safety, leadership and more, and workers
are cross-trained on jobs and equipment.
" I've got employees out here who can run any machine in
any facility, which is phenomenal, " Mr. Catlett said. " That is
what we strive to achieve: cross-training, flexibility and just
being versatile in what we do. "
STERLING SYSTEMS AND CONTROLS, INC.
AUTOMATION, BATCHING & WEIGHING SPECIALISTS
815-625-0852 * sci@sterlingcontrols.com
www.sterlingcontrols.com
www.bakingbusiness.com / June 2023 Baking & Snack 27
Full custom solutions that
are designed with your
operational processes
in mind.
The technology and
experience to
increase
efficiency
and profits.
Material
Weighing/
Batching
Process
Control/
Automation
https://www.sterlingcontrols.com?utm_source=Baking+and+Snack&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=2023&utm_id=2023.06.HalfPageIsland http://www.sterlingcontrols.com
Baking & Snack - June 2023

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