The Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family in the Netherlands – BVT, NEWCAP and VACUUM & BAKEPACK are parts of this Family – which offers turnkey solutions, e.g. in the lamination technology area.
Technique and technology in the dough lamination area has developed and changed in the past 40 to 50 years. New ways were found and implemented in practice. Maarten van der Coer, Director for Marketing & Organization in the Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family, says: “Turnkey solutions! The focus within our organization is currently on this area. We have pooled our strengths to form a single family. BVT Dough Process Solutions, NEWCAP Industrial Handling Solutions, VACUUM Cooling & Baking Company and BAKEPACK End of Line Solutions.” The companies have always been sister firms, Verhoeven being a company with
experience in the machine construction field. According to Maarten van der Coer: “The market did not see us as one family, however, which is why we founded a new brand group: the Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family.”
BVT, NEWCAP, VACUUM & BAKEPACK are all parts of this Family. BVT is a specialist in the area of dough processing lines, NEWCAP specializes in handling and conditioning, VACUUM is the vacuum cooling and baking specialist, and BAKEPACK specializes in end-of-line solutions such as packaging, robotics and palletting.
The Group offers tailor-made solutions to the baked products industry worldwide. The company operates with strategic partners for the components that it lacks, e.g. an oven.
Lamination
Marketing & Organization Director Maarten van der Coer explains that general technology in the lamination area has not changed significantly in the past ten years. Development resides in very specific components and tools to guarantee and improve the quality of laminated products. Hygiene design has been taken to a new level in recent years, and so has the software. Hygienic Design, e.g. opportunities for easy cleaning and good accessibility, is the new standard in the bakery machines market. In the course of the years, software has been developed leading to very intelligent systems that precisely monitor end product quality. Furthermore, software systems management has become simpler, because intelligent system integrations undertake software control everywhere and at all times, in the factory or remotely. Software systems can now also communicate with higher levels of automation extending all the way to ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning).
BVT offers various lamination solutions with capacities ranging from 500 to 8,000 kg/hour. In this respect, there are many factors acting on end product quality, e.g. ingredients, recipes, the type of fat, fat temperature, dough resting time, the number of layers and the alignment of the dough. The environmental temperature and consistency of the ingredients are also important for the final result. This is why BVT has developed various solutions to control each of these factors.
Application of fat to a dough sheet. The company offers a great variety of solutions for this task
Verhoeven Bakery Equipment
BVT offers tailor-made production lines for all kinds of bread and baked products. BVT is part of the Netherlands-based Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family. Four companies belong to the Verhoeven Bakery Machines Family, all with their own specialization. The Verhoeven Bakery Plants Family comprises BVT Dough Process Solutions, NEWCAP Industrial Handling Solutions, VACUUM Cooling & Baking Company and BAKEPACK End of Line Solutions. More information can be found at: www.verhoevenfamily.com
New fat pumps
BVT can offer both semi-automatic and fully automatic lamination methods. The company also offers various kinds of butter pumps, depending on customers’ requirements. A unique feature of the new design of these pumps is the exclusive use of stainless steel pump components. Rubber components have also been replaced by stainless steel, making the pumps considerably more robust. Therefore the BVT fat pump is able to create a stable fat layer from all types of fat blocks, ranging from hard fat types to fats with a low melting point or high viscosity. This is all carried out without changing the size of the fat blocks or cutting them. These butter pumps have capacities extending from 50 kg to 1,500 kg/hour.
According to company information, customers praise the good accessibility of the pumps. Servicing is easy to carry out. The fat pumps can operate fully automatically by using fat supply sensors, and as a result of their software system. All-in processes and lamination
An all-in process involves incorporating small cubes of fat into the dough during the mixing phase. BVT has developed a special fat block cutter for this method. This cutter is able to size-reduce fat into specific sizes, and automatically feeds the modified size fat cubes into any dough mixer at the rate of up to 1,500 kg of fat per hour.
The choice of lamination technology depends on the dough consistency and nature of the product. Two methods known in the market are the overlapping method (vertical lamination) and the retraction/cut and stack method (horizontal lamination). BVT offers both methods. On request, BVT also offers a combination of the two methods. The company also offers all the common processes, as well as L-, U- and Z-shaped production lines together with the inline process. When necessary, BVT integrates a resting and/or cooling section to completely control the temperature and consistency of the laminated dough.
The newly-developed fat pump is designed to be particularly robust, and processes a wide variety of fat types
Turnkey projects
Maarten van der Coer: “Reaching a successful layout with turnkey projects is a challenge. In the first place, we begin with a very exact product description. In addition to the capacity required by the customer, we also take into account factors such as the number of layers, weight, size, flavor, necessary process parameters and required quality. Secondly, we state the type of machines needed to fulfill the quality and capacity requirements. Thirdly, we attempt to design a layout corresponding to the space available in the factory. If the machines won’t fit into the factory, we go back to the drawing board. Finally, we ensure the entire equipment fits, by finding creative, innovative solutions.” The group delivered two turnkey solutions only recently. The first of these involved a cake line with a capacity of 20,000 pieces per hour, from mixer to packaging. This line was equipped with two laminating machines for an upper and a lower layer of dough. The lower layer of dough is made from yeast dough with a capacity of 1,200 kg/hour. The upper layer of dough is made from laminated puff pastry with a capacity of 800 kg/hour. The plants enable the customer to produce a wide range of baked goods. They can also process various fruit fillings as well as chicken and meat fillings.
According to Maarten van der Coer: “This line was a special project, because the space in the factory wasn’t large enough for the necessary capacity. BVT carried the process to the required result by adapting the equipment to the circumstances of the building. This was achieved by setting up inline laminating sections alongside the oven.”
The second turnkey project was a “fried Danish twisted stick line” with a capacity of 2,000 kg/hour, from mixer to packing. This line contains two laminating sections. After lamination, the dough is turned and twisted. Next, the twisted dough is cut into small sticks. The sticks are positioned before being carried to the proofer. As soon as the twisted sticks emerge from the proofer, they are baked in the BVT deep fat fryer. Finally, the twisted dough sticks are coated with a glaze and packed. As Maarten van der Coer explains: “This project was rather special because the previous process operated only partially automatically. The process is now fully automated, in accordance with our customer’s wishes. In addition, a higher level of quality has been achieved.”
