How to Better the Bakery Efficiency?

In the baking industry, the products are a growth sector within the food manufacturing, and one of the most significant trends is the changing palate of the consumer.

Fremont, CA: The modern health-conscious consumers are moving to 'artisan' bread made from ancient and whole grains, as well as all-natural ingredients and no added preservatives food. These changing trends have forced the industrial bakers to adjust their products and adjust their manufacturing operations and logistics accordingly. This adaptation gives rise to a host of issues regarding the bakery process efficiency. Among these are the apparent macro-impacts of removing preservatives, which means that products need to transport reliably from the baker to the consumer in the shorter time frames, more frequently, and in smaller batches. This means that production runs must adapt to be smaller and more frequent, with changeovers happening more regularly. This can be very devastating to bakery profit margins if not managed well. With the demands of the consumers evolving, bakers will have to develop with them simultaneously maintaining profitability; this aspect has profound implications for bakery process efficiency. 

Having said that, but beyond the baking efficiency and packaging line, bakers can have a three-phase approach to improve the bakery process efficiency. 

[vendor_logo_first]Planning & Documentation

An article reviews some useful steps necessary to improve efficiency, including embracing Lean Manufacturing techniques such as Just in Time inventory management. They also recommend that having a well-documented production process for each product that includes an ingredients plan for each production run is essential. Bakers can compare not only total production costs against planned production costs but also calculate the actual yield and projected yield for each set of ingredients. 

Benchmarking

When establishing the documented process and production plan, bakers can set a benchmark for the existing bakery production. While many larger bakeries will look up to automation to better the efficiency, it's recommended to establish a baseline of the bakers' existing performance, implement a lean methodology, and check to automate the optimal process, leaving some process steps to workers while the bakers automate others. 

Testing And Optimization

Once the bakers have benchmarked the existing bakery processes, they can begin to test and optimize various scenarios. While embracing lean manufacturing techniques and implementing data gathering, testing, and optimization software, the mindset can seem very intimidating.

See also: Top Food and Beverages Technology Solution Companies