Handling Baking Goods: Conveying & Automating in the baking industry with Piab
Wherever baking goods are produced, flour, sugar, salt, and other dry powders, granules, grains, and small particles are used. Consistent quality, low-dust conveying of ingredients and compliance with hygiene standards are essential in the production of bakery goods.
Vacuum conveying for baking goods
Conveying systems for baking goods are essential for automating the transportation of ingredients within the baking goods production line. These systems utilize gentle suction to transport bulk materials such as flour, sugar, grains, nuts and spices from storage silos or containers to various processing points along the production line.
By eliminating the need for manual handling, vacuum conveying ensures a hygienic and contamination-free transfer of baking goods ingredients, thereby maintaining the quality and integrity of the final product.
Since materials change often, it’s important to have conveying equipment, which is versatile, easy to clean, and can accommodate quick changeover.
Robotic solutions for baking goods production: Automation of processes
We also offer food grade suction cups and grippers for pick-and-place solutions. Pick-and-place systems help automating the assembly and packaging of baked goods. These automated systems are equipped with pick-and-place suction cups or grippers capable of precisely picking up baked items such as bread, cakes, cookies, and pastries from the production line and placing them into the packaging.
With the ability to gently handle delicate products with speed and accuracy, pick-and-place solutions optimize throughput rates while minimizing product damage and waste.
Conveying ingredients: Handling of seeds within an industrial bakery
Read more about our success story with Austerschmidt - a germany industrial bakery, who automated the handling of seeds with Piab's piFLOW vacuum conveyor.
Conveying systems for bakeries: different process steps need different solutions
Efficient sugar, seeds, or flour conveyor: Feeding to and from mixing and blending units
Piab vacuum conveyors effectively replace manual feeding of your blenders/mixers, or any other lifting solutions, by ensuring a quick filling and emptying process as well as easy material changeover. Ingredients for baking goods can be picked up from the barrel or drum ensuring a more ergonomic work environment and faster cycle time.
Our intelligent enclosed conveying systems for flour, sugar, mixes, and more enable a safe working environment for your staff and reduces the risk of material segregation and contamination. All Piab vacuum conveyor systems for baking goods meet low noise requirements, are modular in design and have a small footprint with capacity to fit in most environments. Maintenance, regular cleaning, and filter changes are easily done to minimize your production’s down time.
Feeding seasoning and sprinkling units
Vacuum conveying for baking goods finds primary application in supplying various ingredients like sugar, salt, flour, or similar materials through sieves into blending and mixing equipment.
Additionally, vacuum conveying serves to deliver ingredients to dosing machinery, spreading the sprinkling of flavorings, seeds, or salt onto the baked goods.
While conveying seasonings (salt, spice mixes, sugar, nuts, etc.) to a sprinkling machine it is important to minimize dust exposure of employees, decrease risk of material segregation and increase productivity. Manual feeding of the seasonings can be replaced by a Piab vacuum conveyor for baking goods since powder pick up is possible from a barrel or container.
Reduce material loss and packaging waste: Reclaim of product with Piab
The possibility to automate the reclaim process of materials can increase the efficiency of scrap handling. Piab vacuum conveyors for baking goods can move damaged products via an enclosed system to scrap handling thus eliminating dependency on operator interaction. Reclaim of product within the process reduces material loss and packaging waste.
Feeding packaging machines in the baking goods industry
Packaging is the last step in the manufacturing process and is usually done with many employees present, which means that low noise levels are critical to ensure a safe working environment. Piab vacuum conveyors are well suited for feeding packaging machines because of low noise levels and are designed with an enclosed system ensuring employee safety due to removing any dust particle exposure during the packing process.
Direct food contact picking: Vacuum ejectors and suction cups for baked goods
Due to the large variety of shapes, sizes and consistency of food products an adjustable vacuum level is required in order to avoid product marking or damage. Vacuum systems fitted with right type of suction cup and vacuum ejector are the most versatile and reliable solution for pick-and-place in the baking goods industry. Piab solutions ensure a high performing picking and placing operations.
All our food contact classified products meet FDA requirements, are easy to clean and need minimal maintenance. Most of our products are configurable and modular to your needs, which helps to simplify operations and get you up and running quickly.
Above all, we were impressed by Piab's rapid planning and implementation, taking our requirements for integration into the existing systems into account one-to-one. In addition to the excellent, customer-related advice, we were also delighted that the delivery timeframe was met and that we were able to put the vacuum conveyor into operation very quickly.
/Dirk Austerschmidt, Managing Director at Austerschmidt Fresh Bakers.
Benefits of conveying ingredients and baked goods with Piab
Made for food
Hygienic, compliant, and safe for direct food contact as well as easy maintenance and cleaning
Ease of use
Our vacuum conveyors are easily adjusted for a quick changeover of materials
Human safety
Our enclosed system helps to reduce exposure to dust
FAQ
Do Piab vacuum conveyors replace screw conveyors?
Certainly! Mechanical conveying options, like screw conveyors, bucket elevators, chain conveyors, or even belt conveyors are less suitable to convey powders than Piab vacuum conveyors. Screw conveyors, especially, have a fixed design, have a big footprint, can lead to product segregation (separation of ingredients in mixes) and tend to damage the product due to frictions during the conveying process. Vacuum conveying avoids these risks.
We work with an especially fine flour mix that tends to build “ratholes” during conveying. Is it possible to overcome that?
Each conveying situation is different when vacuum conveying is used. Fine powders often tend to “do bridging” or create “ratholes” during the conveying process. This can be easily avoided by choosing the right setup and by using fluidization whenever it is needed. Talk to our experts to find out what solutions we offer to overcome bridging.
How does vacuum conveying support quick changeovers in production?
With easy-to-clean designs and adjustable settings, vacuum conveying systems support quick and efficient changeovers between different materials, maximizing uptime and productivity in baking goods production.
Can vacuum conveying systems handle different types of baking ingredients?
Yes, vacuum conveying systems are versatile and can handle a wide range of baking ingredients including flour, sugar, starches, and nuts, making them suitable for various applications within the baking goods industry.
Is it easy to clean and maintain vacuum conveying systems?
Vacuum conveying systems are designed for easy cleaning and maintenance, with some models offering features like Wet-In-Place (WIP) for efficient cleaning, ensuring compliance with hygiene standards in the food industry.
How does vacuum conveying ensure the gentle handling of delicate ingredients?
The technology behind vacuum conveying is designed to transport materials gently to prevent damage to delicate ingredients, ensuring they maintain their quality and integrity from pickup to discharge.
Can vacuum conveying systems be customized for specific baking goods applications?
Yes, vacuum conveying systems can be customized with various feed point equipment and configurations to meet the specific needs of different applications within the baking goods industry.
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