Bread bakers strive to hone their operations to run the most efficient facilities possible, which includes a packaging department that is reliable and can keep up with line speed. That means determining the ideal capacity to handle not just a typical run but one that is equipped to catch up if problems occur upstream.

“The easy answer is to say they need 10% to 15% over oven capacity, but it’s really much more complicated than that,” said Dennis Gunnell, president, Formost Fuji. “They need to look at more than loaves per minute, sizes and changeovers. They need to look at what they’re going to bake. Is it white bread? Wheat bread? Or are they going to do specialty breads that may take longer?”

Bakers must consider what they are planning to use their packaging equipment for and if they will need to go up in speed.

“Even though the oven capacity may be X, they may plan to run products that are only half of X in speed because they need a longer bake,” Gunnell explained. “They have to look at what it is going to be doing and what their plans are for the next few years because a lot of lines are scalable.”

Estimating the proper amount of bread packaging needed on a line depends on several factors, but most agree that bakeries should avoid running at full capacity in case they need to temporarily increase speed or need more volume down the line.

“You want your normal running speed to be about 10% faster than what you’re sending to it to account for bag changes and double loaf elimination,” said Justin Atkins, director of sales, Bettendorf Stanford. “The normal running speed should never be the system’s max operating speed. We recommend leaving a buffer of at least 10% to 20% of ramp-up capability before you hit max speed.”

To maximize output, bakers should evaluate oven production capacity by establishing an efficiency factor to reduce downtime and optimize equipment use, said Bernardo Zermeno, customer development director, Rexfab.

“For high-speed production lines exceeding 7,200 loaves per hour, a redundancy factor of up to 30% is employed, whereas smaller volume lines require less redundancy,” he added.

Figuring out capacity means comparing throughput with the maximum efficient operating speed of each primary packaging machine, said Josh Becker, bakery and confection segment manager, Harpak-Ulma.

“If two machines are required for maximum oven throughput, then either a third machine should be added or the ability to accumulate automatically or manually rack off product before slicing should be considered,” he said. “If three machines are required for output, then a fourth primary packaging machine should be added for redundancy.” 

For de-coupled lines, the answer might be accumulating bread by keeping your product in the cooling racks a little bit longer while your primary packaging machine is down, Becker added.

“You cannot extend proofing time or baking time to accommodate packaging machine downtime, but you can extend cooling time or floor time of finished product to an extent,” he said.

The issue of capacity comes down to redundancy vs. accumulation, depending on which the baker prefers, said Bill Kehrli, vice president, sales and marketing, Cavanna Packaging. 

“The limiting factors on accumulation have to do with the baked good, whether it’s bread or another product, it doesn’t really matter. How long can that stay in the environment before it needs to be packaged? That affects the quality,” he said. “Once you put things into accumulation, you’ve got to be able to deplete them.”

Kehrli went on to say that if bakers are making 100 loaves of sliced bread per minute, they can deplete any accumulated loaves that had to be set aside during an unplanned stoppage by packaging 115 to 120 loaves a minute once the line is up and running again.

Of course, redundancy affords bakers the opportunity to keep running when one piece of equipment goes down by using a spare machine or line.

“That means you have equipment sitting there doing nothing, which sometimes is the right solution and sometimes not,” Kehrli said. “If it were up to me, I would have accumulation systems because packaging equipment tends to run better at a consistent speed. When they start from zero and go to 100, it’s not normally a good idea. They are more efficient going from 100 to 120.”

Bob Bezanilla, North American sales representative for Schutte Bagclosures, said larger bakeries often incorporate two closing machines on their line so they can turn to the backup when one goes down.

“Your newer and bigger bakeries are probably more forward thinking and incorporate that,” he said. “It’s relatively painless to swap a machine in and out, but it requires a mechanic and all that takes time. Your bigger hitters will simply shut one machine off and have the ability to turn another one on.”

In the United Kingdom, it is common to have an overflow line, said Richard Hobson, chief executive officer at We Seal.

“If the desired output could be achieved with three lines running at 55 loaves per minute, a bakery would usually install a fourth line, running them all at 40 to 45 loaves per minute,” he explained. “This approach allows for production to continue if maintenance is required on one of the lines.”

Looking to the future

The companies making closure equipment for bread bags are keeping their eyes on serving bakeries into the future with smart machinery with more sustainable equipment.

Kwik Lok manufactures equipment that can be managed through a tablet or smartphone, helping bakeries strapped for workers.

“I know that hiring and maintaining workforce is a major challenge for bakeries so automation really helps them because there are so many roles that need to be covered, and if we can help with our automated machines, then they can put their people on things that only people can do,” said Karen Reed, global director of marketing and communications, Kwik Lok. 

Burford Corp., a Middleby Bakery company, is looking at improved data collection for machinery, although they’ve been doing it for years.

“We want to get to the next level where we use data more effectively for our customers, allowing them to easily integrate the data into their own platform or provide them a local plant-level solution,” said Clay Miller, president, Burford. “The goal is to allow our customers to monitor wear parts and the performance of the machine. This gives them the ability to replace parts when it’s convenient for them instead of after it breaks. There will be an opportunity to incorporate AI technology in the very near future, and the data is the foundation that must already be in place.”

Finding more sustainable solutions is also an ongoing challenge.

“We don’t produce the twist tie, but we work alongside several companies that do so we can try to test and validate both sides of it: how it performs on the product and how it performs in the machine,” Miller said.

Kwik Lok offers a portfolio of products made of paper or polypropylene.

“We want to build closures that keep food fresh and safe so that we don’t have food waste, which is a huge environmental and social issue,” Reed said. “We are also working to make our closures out of materials that can be part of a circular economy.”

A key area of interest is incorporating recycled content in bread bags, said Veronica Ataya, director, marketing and innovation, St. Johns Packaging. 

The company partnered with Bimbo Bakeries USA to develop the first polyethylene bread bag in North America made with post-
 consumer recycled polyethylene content.

“These bags offer an improved carbon footprint without compromising performance,” Ataya said.

Hobson pointed out that one spool of resealable tape contains more than 27,000 closures.

“This represents a huge labor saving in addition to reduced downtime as changeover of the consumable is only needed every seven to eight hours when running at the highest speeds,” he said. 

Many European bakeries have switched to the clip band, which is a double-wire band that folds over itself to close bread bags.

“There is some cost savings with it,” Bezanilla said.

Running strong

Keeping bread packaging machinery running optimally means taking steps to avoid downtime by ensuring that maintenance tasks are completed in a timely manner, that operators are properly trained and bakery processes support a smooth packaging operation. 

“You have to have good control of the process so bread is a consistent size, not overproofed, so it will fit properly into bags and through machinery,” Gunnell said. “Right-size everything: product, bags. And I think the best way is having a good handle on their process control, the portioning, mixing, proofing, all of that must be very consistent.”

The bags holding the product must be high quality, too, Becker said.

“The least expensive packaging material may not always be the most efficient when running on the bagging line,” he explained. 

Becker also said machines with more analytical tools can improve performance management.

“If the machine is able to tell you that there is an issue with performance and where on the machine the performance issue is occurring, that can considerably cut down on time required to locate, repair and resume operation,” he pointed out.

Having well-trained workers on machinery is key to success in packaging.

“Training for new operators is very important,” said Martin Dalbec, director of engineering, AMF Bakery Systems. “Providing adequate time to train new operators is critical to ensure effectiveness and avoid rapid turnover. At AMF, we offer training at the startup, along with a setup/startup checklist and training videos.”

Dan Dooley, director, bakery sales, Amcor, said he’s seen more problems with inexperienced staff in bakeries.

“You see a lot of turnover, and inexperience in a packaging line is going to drive whether a baker is efficient or not efficient in their packaging,” he explained. “We have a technical service team, and we help in cases of quality issues. You tend to see bakeries with less experienced labor forces have more issues with their material loading process.”

Bakers need to weigh their ability to maintain the more sophisticated equipment against their desire for automated settings, Atkins said.  

“Having a bunch of servos on a machine to provide automated setup based on a preset recipe is nice, and we offer it on our ALPS bun lines and on our BSI-75 slicers, but we have found that not every plant has the technical know-how to handle the programming involved,” he said. “This is why we have developed a less complex centerline approach that allows operators to see a preset recipe that shows exactly where each guide rail and setting should be. It allows for maximum repeatability.”

Careful preparation can ensure processes are done quickly and efficiently.

“Preparing changeovers in advance will reduce the risk of downtime,” Dalbec said. “This includes having the next run bag wicket in the idle table, pulling out the recipe screen to quickly call the next setup and using a template to adjust the guide.” 

 Bakeries that follow preventative maintenance guidelines will find success while those who ignore these tasks will inevitably run into problems.

“Too many times people wait until there’s a problem,” Gunnell said. “You change your oil in your car, and you get your timing belt replaced after 100,000 miles so it doesn’t break down on the side of the road. It’s exactly the same for machinery. Get your maintenance program rock solid and stay on top of it.”

Angela McDaniel, marketing and sales coordinator for Formost Fuji, said that manufacturers often have techs who can service equipment for bakers if they don’t have the staff to handle it.

Calculating the optimal capacity for bread bagging requires looking at oven output, type of product, sizes and more. Once that is determined, bakers must take necessary steps to keep lines running smoothly.

This article is an excerpt from the May 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Sliced Bread Packaging, click here.