The Advantages Of Automating Bakery Processing Lines

Bakeries worldwide are automating their processes in response to labor shortages to boost output, save time, and ensure safety.

FREMONT CA: "Either automate or perish”—this concept has been applied to various industries as businesses aim to optimize their operations while simultaneously reducing expenses. The food industry has not yet reached this tipping point with the relatively late adoption of automation technologies. However, as more businesses embrace digital transformation and the workforce gap widens, they're getting closer.

With customer preference increasingly shifting toward artisan bread, the bakery business may not appear as amenable to automation as other segments of the food processing industry. Indeed, the artisan market's expansion increases the demand for automation across the baking business. Consider some advantages of automating the bakery processing lines.

Increased throughput: Unsurprisingly, increasing throughput is why many businesses seek to automate their lines. Humans are incapable of working as swiftly as robots, which can operate continuously and without breaks.

The increase in throughput that automation can provide is application- and process-dependent. However, a review of the last five years of data from Food Engineering's State of Food Manufacturing Survey indicates that processors usually anticipate automation as a significant driver of 10-15 percent throughput increases.

A more compact equipment footprint: The difficulty with increased throughput is that processors want to do it without expanding their facilities. Indeed, many processors are attempting to reduce their equipment footprint to fit additional equipment into their existing buildings.

Automated equipment often requires less space than non-automated equipment of the same capacity, which means bakery businesses receive more for their real estate dollar.

More stringent quality control: The customers anticipate that each product that leaves the line will satisfy standards. This is because, for consumers, consistent quality is a critical factor in determining their level of trust in a brand. Undercooked rolls or stuffed crust pizzas lacking their stuffing will not attract return customers.

Automation assures consistency, which boosts throughput by reducing yield loss, as fewer off-spec goods must be discarded.

Enhancement of food safety: Cross-contamination in food processing plants is frequently caused by humans. Workers who do not adhere to Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) have a high risk of introducing germs and allergies into food. Even individuals who adhere to CGMPs have the potential to disseminate bacteria into the air as they walk or push bins or carts about a factory.

Automation eliminates humans from the processing equation, hence eliminating the possibility of cross-contamination produced by humans.

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