CASE STUDY – SAFETY IN BAKERIES, POST PACKAGING PROCESS

Background

Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) highlight a startling reality: bakers and flour confectioners face an injury incidence rate 18.2 times higher than the average workplace. Post-packaging is where most of the injuries occur.

Automate the post-packaging process. What is needed. Is it worth it? How much investment is needed? What is the expected payback period?

Successful bakeries have always looked for continuous improvement. They begin by focusing in what their customers value, their quality, their brands, and what makes them unique. From there, they innovate in products, manufacturing capabilities, ingredients, go-to-market strategies, marketing campaigns, and pricing strategies that give them the right to win in their markets. At some point, they decide to set safety and health as a top priority, implementing hazard controls, making improvements to the workplace.

Suppose that a company invests $500,000 to automate the post-packaging system, where most of the injuries occur. As a result of this investment, they can reduce the number of workplace accidents, leading to cost savings of $150,000 in accident-related expenses, on top of the labor-saving expenses from the automation line, which can be estimated at $200,000 a year for 4 job positions in the line.

This investment is likely to last for 10 years, where it can be amortized as expenses, providing yearly benefits to the company for 350k dollars, 3.5 million in total. This leads to a return on investment of 600%. It is a no-brainer.

Then, what is the reason that many bakeries do not take the next step into automation of this process, where safety is the biggest concern?

1. Prioritize other investments. Oven, packaging, facilities. Etc.
2. Post-packaging process can be done manually.
3. The journey to become a leader in their market keeps them flexible to customer demands, and hard to automate a wide SKU number portfolio.
4. Excessive workload prevents them from giving serious analysis to post-packaging projects.

Solution

Rexfab Basket Stacker is a flexible solution that can adapt to all types of bread, sliced breads, English Muffins, bagels, buns, tortillas, pita, and handled at shelf-stable temperature.

Can connect with all types of packaging systems, loading, and inspection systems.

Compact footprint allows it to replace almost any existing post-packaging solutions. Can be adjusted to stack baskets or trays.

Rexfab Conveyor system design based on +30 years of experience, can integrate any palletizing system.

We began by making a full assessment of the bakery process, understanding first, the expectations and characteristics of the Bakery,  Production rates, product types, pan types, even the company culture, and how easy they can adopt change.

The customer leadership position in the market is key to determining the future demand to fulfill by the new facility or production line. Having the visibility of all possible limitations from different equipment, space, technical specs, needs for automation, budget considerations, timeframe, etc, is the first step to designing the “new” production line

What makes an efficient Bakery production line?

1. Best in class equipment: It is quite common for mid size Wholesale Bakeries to place a lot of emphasis on the Proofer, Oven, and Packaging. However, Post Packaging is a process with high savings potential. Not only for the cost of complacency in providing safety conditions to operators and preventing injuries, but also because the continuous throughput of the line.

2. Integrating the process. It is relatively easy to design a process flow on a computer, make the drawings, and produce them. What adds value for Bakeries is the combination of the Bakery Operation expertise with the genius designing of Rexfab’s Professional Engineers. The complexity of the project required not only technical capabilities, but an open, genuine partnership attitude, to find an optimal solution for Bakeries.

Evaluate different solutions from different vendors, making it possible to distinguish the value added from Rexfab, a commitment to say and do the same thing, over the “sale of equipment” to another customer.

3. A good plan needs a good implementation. Here is where Rexfabs Project Management Engineers made their thing. It is not magic; it is about commitment, knowledge, and experience. Every project has different challenges that might be impossible to foresee during the planning process, and when they arrive it is key to be prepared, analyse alternative options and put new solutions on the table to be discussed, agreed and implemented. Having visibility of the timing, budget, and resources gives peace of mind to Bakers, who trust their projects to Rexfab.

Testimonials

List of projects made using Basket Stacker

Number of Units sold: 6

Weston (Trays)

2016 North York (unit #1)

2017 Concord (unit #2)

2018 Sudbury (unit #3)

2018 Toronto – Carlingview (unit #4) Pepperidge Farm (Baskets)

2019 Lakeland (unit #5) Tennessee Bun Co. (2 baskets configuration)

2019 Dickson (unit #6)

Double Basket Stacker With Double Dolly Loader

Number of Units sold : 5 Canada Bread (Baskets)

2018 Multi-Marques, Vincent-Massey (unit #1 & #2)

2020-2021 Viau (unit #3-4 & #5