KAAK has recently added the expertise of Silowacht to its ‘silo to truck’ solution portfolio, expanding its product range with silo construction and ingredient dosing. These processes add to the existing expertise of the Dutch group and complete its range in the essential processes leading up to mixing.
KAAK’s recent acquisition of Silowacht, a specialist with more than 30 years of experience and an annual turnover in excess of EUR7m, falls in line with the company’s vertical integration strategy, with the motto ‘from silo to truck’. Silowacht, with its production facility located in Zwolle, the Netherlands, specializes in processes complementary to those covered in KAAK’s Terborg headquarters. The companies can now respond to the current trend towards longer bowl rest, with solutions for proofing and accurate dosing. 35 staff are employed at Silowacht and the day-to-day operations remain under the management of Jules Plevier. As KAAK was welcoming their new colleagues to the Group in March, Aart-Jan Hartman, chief commercial officer, KAAK, and Jules Plevier, the managing director of Silowacht, granted us an interview to share the details about their combined expertise and how they are planning to work together going forward.
KAAK’s ‘silo to truck’ promise, simple as it may sound, implies many aspects in which the company can be of service throughout the processing chain. This is why the companies that have joined the group specialize in various segments of bakery manufacturing, from the start, with silo construction, through distribution to mixers, proofing, baking, cooling/freezing, and even packaging and crate handling – to the truck. “KAAK is aiming to provide solutions ranging from full lines and even the architecture of the entire bakery, complete solutions. This is how the KAAK Group has been developing for the past 20-30 years with automation, following the directions set since our launch, 175 years ago,” KAAK’s CCO shared.
Silowacht
+ Founded 32 years ago
+ 35 employees
+ Located in Zwolle, the Netherlands
+ Provides silo service and maintenance, solutions for dosing solids, liquids and micro-ingredients
+ As a part of the KAAK Group, with all disciplines in-house, from engineering to turnkey delivery including automation, the focus for the coming years will be on the complete process, from ‘silo to truck’.
‘From silo to mixer’
Silowacht company expands KAAK’s expertise in the silo-to-
mixer segment; a big shift over the past few years in the growing importance of the technology before the proofer meant the timing for the new addition was just right, we learn. There are many drivers of this trend, including eco-concerns, traceability, and product reformulations to remove artificial ingredients, Hartman underlines. “The result of all these dynamics is that we need more time; it is nature’s best ally and always the best solution to everything, bread-making included,” he explains what he sees as a key ingredient in baking that indicates a natural process. The KAAK Group specializes in equipment that supports these trends: they played a part in the development of its sheeting lines that enable gentle handing of the dough. It has also completed several projects on the final proofing technology, with proofing times as long as 15 hours (this trend can
already be seen in Spain, France, and generally in Southern Europe, for example). This is where the challenges start, since manufacturing efficiency requires faster processes. The balance of finding the right time is in the technology. “Time means volume, and it’s upfront in the process – that’s where Silowacht’s silo-to-mixer technology comes into play. We needed to strengthen our qualities in dough processing and handling within the KAAK Group; a combination of dosing precision, speed, internal/external fermentation, pre-processing materials up to the finalization of the dough,” adds Hartman. The eco trend makes processes upstream of mixing more and more complex as additional ingredients come into play, liquids next to solids. “The answer is in automation and that is where we combine our strengths now for this part of the process, from ingredient bulk storage to dough,” also explains Silowacht’s Plevier.
Strength in individuals
Workflow integration is already underway as the group has begun developing projects together as an entity. KAAK’s CCO reveals it will change the way they work: “The Group’s strength is that we have very strong individual companies and a very strong chain of companies bringing all their technologies together, as well as their engineering capabilities.” Next is a steep learning process; for example, it is very important to connect the software structure and have solutions speaking the same language. “This will definitely be the topic for the coming months, to bring together Silowacht’s sophisticated control system with KAAK’s software,” anticipates Hartman.
Silowacht’s complex control system has been developed to meet all the challenges in precision, timing, and diverse ingredients with different requirements. “The system is able to start the whole process in the morning or for 24/7 operations and to fully automate it around the dough-making process. The next step we can control concerns the proofer, the checkweigher and so on, because bakeries will often have separate process installations with their own controlling system. Instead, what we want to do is control the whole process, from the beginning. For this, integration and automation will be key, to fully control the entire process and deliver the right statistics to the facility’s management so that they can take the necessary actions. These steps will be crucial in the coming years to build the bakery of the future,” stresses Plevier.
Reformulations for anything from salt or sugar reduction, to any ‘better-for-you’ trends mean challenges for the operations ahead of mixing. Processes in these stages are very dynamic, and to be able to manage removing certain ingredients entails adding some new ones to make up for it. “This is why we always have a structural relationship with the customer, who often changes recipes and parts of the process to meet customer requirements. Solutions are found case by case, from adding a new silo to optimizing the installation, adjusting the automation, Silowacht observes.
The silo and dosing specialist is now focusing on managing micro-dosing ingredients, which can vary greatly, especially in facilities running numerous types of products on their lines. “Most of the time, this is still done manually, which is why we are working on micro-dosing installations, to automate this part as well and dose it from small silos directly,” Plevier details.
Major aspects on focus of the R&D with the combined strengths of the group will be in precision, traceability and storage – for the specific product, its recipe and requirements, whether it is a French baguette or Spanish bread. “We have been focusing on technology improvements over the last 10 years, and from now we should change our
perspective to the final products, and measure the quality of the dough to further improve the bread, for example,” highlights Plevier. This is how the KAAK Group combines its strengths with those that Silowacht brings onboard.
