ABA panel explores how to leverage the power of automation

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — When seeking to automate their production lines, wholesale bakeries face a complex challenge that involves balancing their simultaneous needs for flexibility, efficiency and greater capacity while adequately training their often-understaffed workforce to operate and maintain the latest advances in technology.

That was the main focus from a panel of commercial bakers and equipment suppliers who talked about leveraging the power of automation at the American Bakers Association’s (ABA) convention, held recently in Scottsdale.

Often the initial step in upgrading an operation involves determining not only what to automate but also why to invest in new equipment, noted Jorge Zarate, global senior vice president, operations and engineering at Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo and moderator of the panel.

“Bakery is a science and an art as well, so not everything can be automated,” he said. “But definitely, we look at automation for productivity.”

He added the world’s largest baking company also relies on automation to improve product consistency and quality and create a more employee-friendly work environment.

Selecting the right applications for automation depends on a number of factors, including the type of products, whether the bakery ships fresh daily or frozen and especially the number of changeovers per day on a production line. These are among a host of factors that determine if automation will have an adequate return on investment, noted Joe Turano, president, Turano Baking Co., Berwyn, Ill.

He said improving quality and consistency remain the top priorities for the company. Long runs of a single item, for instance, are ripe for automation both in production and packaging. Other products may require answering a slew of questions.

“Where does automation make sense?” he asked. “How can we better focus on where to improve quality or reduce labor, if that’s the goal? That’s how we look at automation projects at our company.”

Turano outlined the evolution of baking technology and how many labor-intensive processes performed manually 30 years ago are performed automatically.

For example, he pointed out many bakeries have replaced the sponge-and-dough process with liquid fermentation systems that require little or no labor. Data collection on high-speed lines is now used to monitor efficiency in real time. Hand scoring of artisan products has been replaced by robotics or other technology while vision systems provide better quality control on high-volume bun and roll lines than when it was done by operators.

Before purchasing equipment, bakers need to identify the products they want to produce as well as the capacity needed today and potentially for the future, observed Michael Greco, president, Cusano’s Bakery, Coconut Creek, Fla.

“I would then be reaching out to different vendors and travel around the world, if necessary, to see the existing equipment running out there where the plant can get some ideas and talk to the operators of those lines and see how they are working for them,” he said.

He added bakeries need to identify the space needed for the new equipment and determine if the facility’s utilities will need to be upgraded because many bakery production lines last 20 to 30 years.

“You don’t want to rush into something and make a mistake and regret it all along,” Greco observed. 

Bill Quigg, president of Richmond Baking, noted the Richmond, Ind.-based company is in the midst of a major automation project. The co-manufacturer recently hired a baking industry veteran as a consultant to guide the company through the process and ask the right questions in the vendor selection process.

In addition, the consultant compiled the specifications needed for the project, worked out contractual details and other matters such as how the factory acceptance tests should be conducted.

“Quite frankly, it’s just really catapulted us to what I think will be the eventual success for our process,” Quigg said.

Raymond Nogael, president and chief executive officer of the North American division of Mecatherm, emphasized that bakeries must have a qualified workforce to successfully automate an operation.

“You need to educate and train people so that they can take the ownership of your line,” he advised. 

Hartmut Siegel, CEO of Schubert North America, pointed out that precise product sizes and specifications are critical factors for packaging machine builders.

“We want to visit your bakery. We want to touch, feel and smell the product,” he said. “We want to create a team relationship where we can have an open discussion about the challenges and objectives of a project, and to make sure we achieve the maximum return on your investment.”

In recent years, he said, machine learning, artificial intelligence and other advances in technology have made robotic packaging more flexible than in the past, and he expected greater improvements in the coming years, including at the International Baking Industry Exposition, which will be held Sept. 13-17, 2025, in Las Vegas.