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Bagging it
up
SNACK
FOOD & WHOLESALE BAKERY April
2001
Bernadino’s
Bakery needed to automate its bread and rolls line to complete their
expansion, so the Chicopee, Mass.-based company asked Formost Packaging
Machines, Inc. for help. Formost suggested the model JV-60 combination
bagger, which bags bread at speeds up to 75 loaves per minute.
Until then, the bakery relied on an older rolls-only
bagger, and bread was bagged manually. Now, both rolls and bread are
bagged on the same machine, increasing production by 20,000 bagged
products per day of 15 different items.
Bernadino’s Bakery produces sliced bread, Portuguese
rolls, dinner rolls, loose rolls and Kelgon rolls. Established in 1918 in
a 2,000-sq.-ft. building, Bernadino’s was expanded to 30,000 sq. ft.
with five bays and 60 employees two years ago. The baker uses 20
company-owned trucks to ship its products to major supermarkets in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and eastern New York.
"After initial startup with our
new bagger in January 2000, our operation has been much easier, smoother
and faster than with the old bagger we were using," says Manny Silva,
vice president and production manager, and one of five partners in the
operation.
"We don’t have to worry about overproofed bread
fitting into the bag anymore either,’ Silva added.
The machine’s paddles are specifically designed, and
fingerlike bag openers move sliced bread smoothly into the bakery’s
1.25-ml. polyethylene bags. With the Formost bagger, the bakery gets a
tighter, fuller bread bag, and they can easily run 28 to 45 loaves per
minute, or 32 to 40 per minute of 6-roll or 12-roll packs, Silva says.
"Another
advantage is that the automatic high-speed bagger helped us to eliminate
six to eight hours of worker-time per shift on two shifts when we
hand-bagged bread. Now we use that time to perform other tasks,"
Silva says.
By decreasing labor costs and saving about an inch of
plastic per bag, the unit paid itself off in about a year, Silva notes.
According to Dennis Gunnell, Formost’s vice president of sales and
marketing, bags can also be made smaller to save money and ensure tighter,
neater packages, as the full circumferences of the bag is utilized.
Along with the new bagger model, the
bakery recently added a spiral cooling conveyor to replace cooking racks.
"Some of the major advantages we get with our bread
and rolls bagger are faster bagging speeds, increased efficiencies, and
expanded production runs," Silva says.
END
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to Article Reprints Index
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ARTICLE REPRINTS
Jana’s
cookies fly high!
Packaging
World,
August
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Packaging
Progress
Baking
& Snack,
April
2001
Bagging
it up
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Food & Wholesale Bakery,
April
2001
Hilo
Gold
Candy
Industry,
May
2000
Wrapper
increases efficiency at Purdy's
Candy
Industry,
June
1998
Better
Bags
Packaging
World,
January
2000
Sandwich
wrapping paces productivity
Packaging Digest,
November
1994
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