A complete timeline sketches a clear outline on how fast the rebuild took since the fire. On June 8, 2016, Pretzels, Inc., decided to build a new plant. It selected the Plymouth location on Oct. 14 and was given keys to the building. On Nov. 16, construction workers laid the first concrete slab. Shortly afterward on Jan. 16, 2017, it received the first delivery of equipment, beginning with the packaging systems and ending with final touches on the peanut butter system and the ingredient handling operation.

“We were still laying the slab and foundation for the dough and wet makeup area for the peanut butter filling while we were installing equipment in the packaging area at the same time,” Mr. Schaum said.

The oven began running test products on March 11 — almost nine months to the day of the Canonsburg fire. Then on April 11, the Plymouth plant shipped its first filled pretzels to customers.

The complexity of designing and starting up an SQF Level 3 facility so quickly seemed mindboggling at times, Mr. Schaum said.

Imagine putting draining, a concrete floor, a deck that houses equipment motors and electronic controls, a walkable ceiling for utilities, and structurally reinforcing the roof for HVAC and other heavy-duty support systems. And then, simultaneously, installing processing equipment below.

“Austin really managed the dance,” Mr. Schaum noted. “We had 135 tradesmen from a dozen different companies working in concert with one another, and they did it all in a very short time and as safely as possible.”
Meanwhile, Matt Koch, Austin’s construction superintendent, collaborated closely with everyone to ensure the project went smoothly, Mr. Schaum said. Every step made to expand the building vertically had to be perfectly aligned with how the equipment was installed horizontally on the production floor.

“He coordinated that ballet of tradesmen and trades when we were working on five different levels of the building,” Mr. Schaum said. “He often held meetings twice a day to make sure everyone was working safely, and things were progressing without anyone jumping on one another.”

Key members of the Pretzels, Inc.’s Plymouth operations team include Ted Elrich, plant manager; Troy Vigar, chief engineer; John Antecki, food safety/QA manager; Jen Groves, human resources manager; and Cory Green, processing controls engineer.

Mr. Schaum acknowledged the start-up had a few hiccups. It had to upsize the entire building’s fire suppression system — the original was 30 gallons short of water output from what insurance guidelines required — which stalled progress for three weeks. In addition to obtaining local government approval, Pretzels, Inc., needed to delay installation of the ductwork and structural steel for the safety system.

While Austin supervised the building’s construction, Pretzels, Inc., selected only four primary vendors. Those included Shick Esteve for ingredient handling, GES for peanut butter supply, Reading Bakery Systems (RBS) for pretzel makeup and the oven and Heat and Control for packaging.

“We went with specific equipment because these vendors could do what we needed in the shortest amount of time, and it kept the vendor list short because we were trying to do an ‘accelerated build’ here,” Mr. Schaum explained.

Heat and Control, he noted, provided the equipment as well as the platform for the packaging area. Engineers from RBS and Pretzels, Inc.’s counterparts to custom-design “a one-off” oven with multiple safety features. Wells Fargo assisted with financing.

In addition to a fire suppression system, the full convection oven’s temperature maxes out at 700?F, well below the flashpoint of 1,600?F for peanut butter oil.

“If the peanut oil boils out of the product, the design of the belt will carry the liquid out of the oven,” Mr. Schaum pointed out.

Despite the fast-paced start-up, Pretzels, Inc., worked hard to make sure that it everything it could to ensure both worker and food safety in the long run.