Story by Evan Bail and Annie Hollon
KANSAS CITY, MO — Efficiency within bakeries is a key topic discussed throughout the industry, especially with the uncertainty of the future workforce. According to a workforce study conducted by the American Bakers Association in partnership with ndp | analytics, a gap in the future workforce is imminent. The study revealed that by 2030, there will be a projected 53,500 unfilled jobs in the commercial baking industry, with the impact rippling throughout the supply chain.
With this in mind, equipment manufacturers are innovating accordingly through automation. Bakers are interested in improving productivity and speeding up production while maintaining the level of quality and consistency consumers expect but doing so with fewer workers.
Multivac/Fritsch is taking steps toward increasing efficiency and precision with its Progressa Bread Line, which eliminates the need to hand-shape dough thanks to its new round molder, saving time and reducing inconsistencies. Similarly, Heuft’s Non-Stop Maximum Output tunnel oven can bake more than 25,000 dough pieces per hour gently and consistently.
Bakers are also looking for efficient and sustainable equipment solutions that can be easily integrated into existing production lines. Syntegon is meeting this demand with its SVX Series of baggers. The SVX Agile offers high-speed production of 300 bags per minute with one film lane and can handle a full bag range of any VFFS need. The SVX Duplex produces 600 bags per minute using two accessible film lanes, while maintaining a compact footprint for seamless production integration.
This story has been adapted from the 2023 Innovations Annual issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.
