Manufacturing donuts with less fat and sugar is a must. However, this is just the starting point as unusual shapes, new flavor experiences, creative textures and hybrid formulations are on the rise. What do they have in common with muffins and cupcakes? Aside from striving for unique creations, or rather because of it, there is a flexibility push on the equipment supporting their manufacturing.
Cupcakes and muffins, automated
Flexibility is the top priority when manufacturing cupcakes and muffins as well, as highlighted by the Unifiller Europe Flexline, one of the favorites among the Linxis Group specialist’s customers. This line can first be used for depositing muffin and cupcake batters, and (after baking) for the injection of fillings or cupcake decorations. Bakers and confectioners can also use this line to deposit batters for sponge/cakes, brownies and cheesecakes into various baking forms. After baking and slicing the cake layers, the Flexline can be used to apply the fillings (creams or jams with inclusions as big as whole strawberries) or for the automated applying of syrup onto the sponge layers.
Flexibility tops frequent requests Unifiller is receiving, shares Martin Hornsteiner, Senior Process Advisor at Unifiller Europe. Bakers can use this line not only for cupcakes and muffins but for many other products as well. “This is why we recommend our Flexline, with the Multi Station at its core. Thanks to the great flexibility of the Multi Station, customers can use this line for the production of a wide range of different products, including round and rectangular cakes, desserts, eclairs, macarons, or muffins,“ he details, adding that, “Our Multi Station is a working horse. It is 2.5 times faster than any gearwheel depositor and it can produce up to 16,000 muffins/h.”
Moreover, the Flexiline can easily be modified with additional components, for the exact customization needed. Along the conveyor, additional depositors like the iSpot can be included to apply decorations. Adding another Multi Station to the line (i.e., for injecting fillings into the cupcakes) will help increase production capacity.
The Unifiller accessories were developed for a wide range of products and applications. In general, spreader nozzles are used for cake production; injection nozzles are used for fillings; drip-free nozzles can be used for depositing any liquid products; the 360° twisting nozzles are used for twisted decorations on the cupcakes.
The standard Unifiller solution for cupcake and muffin production comprises a Multi Station and a Hopper Topper transfer pump. These machines are operated by one person who picks and places the trays from the racks to the Multi Station, and back to the racks. Capacities for such a solution are around 13,000 cupcakes per hour. Together with APEX Motion Controls, Unifiller now offers the Baker-Bot to take over picking and placing trays onto the Multi Station’s conveyor. “In this way, we have a fully automated ‘production island’ that can be used not only for the cupcakes and muffins but also for many other items produced on trays,” Hornsteiner tells us. The operator is only required for changing the fully loaded racks against the racks with empty trays to that autonomous production system. When the ‘production island’ is used, the line can be monitored via the Baker-Bot; with the standard Unifiller solution, monitoring works via statistics in the PLC. “Live adjustments are easy to do with our Operator Guidance via icons on the touchscreen of the PLC control,” the specialist from Unifiller adds.
For quick changeovers, Flexiline operators use a second set of machine parts that come into contact with the product. The clean parts are ready to be used on the cleaning and storage trolley, while the dirty parts go onto a second trolley for washing. By working like this the complete changeover takes less than 10 minutes, the specialist recommends.
The handling of the trays with the Baker-Bot from Apex Motion will be the next automation step. An additional cobot can be used to handle decoration tasks along the conveyor of the muffin and cupcake line. Automated product detection and depositing with a handheld nozzle using a cobot is just an example of how a cobot can help to automate production lines in a bakery. The result? Endless flexibility.
