From the reception of ingredients to their storage, handling and recipe management, precise tracking of the raw materials going into formulations is best kept automatically, to ensure process accuracy.
Product quality requirements are increasingly growing in complexity, as the variety of recipes and ingredients used is expanding. Using more types of raw materials creates higher requirements in the area of raw material logistics, in supplying them and in changing them. Other requirements also stem from avoiding cross-contamination. Modern production control systems must provide solutions for all these necessities.
A complete solution
“Integrated warehouse management, recipe management and order control, as well as the tracking of raw material batches and avoiding operator errors are the focus of the KASTOR production control system,” explains Hendrik Langner, Automation, Sales and Consulting at AZO GmbH & Co. KG. This software tracks all raw material inputs throughout the workflow, starting with their transfer to the production area and including all relevant operating points such as material refilling, manual weighing and addition. “The entire area of dough production is documented, each raw material batch can be tracked. In the end, a log of the entire process is compiled,” Langner highlights.
AZO GmbH & Co. KG automates and documents raw material logistics in bakery production, for which it provides both specialized technology and controls.
KASTOR is a product family consisting of various functional modules that can be combined to a complete solution according to specific requirements. The modules can be used flexibly from incoming goods to manual weighing (with the ManDos) or the automatic KASTOR batch modules, up to the transfer to ovens and packaging.
To control dosing accuracy, the best dosing method has to be selected according to the characteristics of the raw materials: the gravimetric system works best for powders, while liquids are normally metered with electromagnetic or Coriolis flowmeters – the former for conductive substances, and the latter for non-conductive materials. For the different dosing methods, parameters such as the density/bulk must be stored, explains Langner. “For user guidance, various methods are used, in addition to classic recipe sequence controls. User guidance is mandatory at all process points with user intervention. Wizards with an integrated plausibility check are used. Mobile operating devices support the operators directly in the individual work areas,” he recommends.
User input is often simplified by barcode-supported processes, which helps avoid operator input errors. The same system usually works to track raw materials throughout the plant. For intermediate containers, labeling is used. All operating steps are logged, to ensure the traceability of the process.
Aside from the classing weighing systems used for large components, which uses hopper scales for the materials conveyed from external silos, there are several ways to automate raw material handling.
Special weighing systems for small components, such as the AZO COMPONENTER® Step are used, for example. Exchangeable containers used on an AZO Dosinenter® are another solution, usually adopted when raw materials are changed frequently, the specialist illustrates. All these solutions can be integrated into a total solution via KASTOR production control system.
Temperature control starts with recording the initial readings of the raw materials, which is done via sensors placed in the storage area. During production, “the temperature of the dough is calculated by measuring the water temperature before the corresponding dosing. Here, readjustment can take place over several dough batches,” Langner explains.
KASTOR: the features
In addition to the list of raw materials with the corresponding target values, KASTOR Recipe Management also contains a workflow that controls the recipe creation process. “If an ERP system specifies the target values of the raw materials (bill of material), this is combined with the corresponding workflow. This enables the integration of the production system with the customer’s ERP system,” he elaborates. Continuous automated data flows can be achieved in this way, to simplify handling.
The operations can be carried out with KASTOR centrally, via a control room, or decentralized, via operating points in the plant. To better serve a higher automation level of systems running with fewer employees, mobile operating devices such as PDAs or tablets can also be used.
The added value of the KASTOR is that it incorporates MES functions beyond the production process: “Order management, material management, tracking and tracing and interfaces to the ERP system or the downstream production processes are possible,” AZO’s specialist explains. KASTOR can also be used as a plant-wide MES system across the entire plant.
KASTOR also includes functions for the management of material pre-planning. The MES analyses the production orders according to their material requirements, taking into account the status of each ingredient stored in the plant, in silos, or other containers. The intermediate products already available are also taken into account. “The needed quantities can be requested from the customer’s high-bay warehouse. Here, interfaces to the warehouse can again guarantee an automatic and thus error-free data flow,” Langner explains.
The KASTOR DataCockpit feature uses the data production process data to relay the process accurately, which indicates the potential for optimization. “For example, changes in raw material properties can have an impact on dosing accuracy. If there are several metering errors recorded for a raw material, this can be visualized, providing valuable information on how to adjust the metering parameters. In this way, the data can provide real added value for the plant operator and the plant can be operated as optimally as possible,” he illustrates.
© AZO GmbH & Co. KG.
Automated systems
Designing a dosing system is a complex process that requires a close analysis of the manufacturer’s processes and detailed information. Cepi Silos works with all departments in the bakery for such a project, from warehouse to production, technical, purchasing and marketing – to include projections of future productions and create a system that will easily accommodate expansions.
“All this input is used to create a customized system that will ensure not only repeatability and accuracy of the recipe but also the traceability of materials and processes, higher efficiency and production volumes, reduced consumptions and pollution, improved working conditions and fewer human errors, as well as enhanced communication with other software and ERP. Our systems make productions more hygienic, with total separation between production and warehouse and optimize space in both areas,” Stefania Montalti, Communication Manager, Cepi Silos.
Starting with the raw materials involved in the production, Cepi Silos analyzes the technical properties of each ingredient, as well as its and their monthly and yearly consumption, to establish their critical points, advantages and to determine potential optimizations and cost-saving opportunities. With this information, the dosing method is selected for the ingredient, according to its characteristics, quantities needed for dosing in each batch and the overall production volume. “Critical ingredients are given special attention, such as liquids whose viscosity determines the pump used during conveyance and if the product needs to be heated before pumping. Products that may cause breakage or contaminations will need separate dosing,” she adds. Information about the containers in which ingredients are delivered is also helpful in establishing how and where the ingredient will be dosed, and how to optimally coordinate operations between warehouse and production. Moreover, the building and environment evaluations also play a role in identifying suitable storing areas for each ingredient, especially those with special storing temperature and humidity requirements.
“When planning a new line, not only all the elements (bulk-handling system, mixer, packaging) must be taken into consideration and planned in parallel, but all future opportunities should be kept in mind,” Montalti highlights.
Cepi Silos designs the mechanical layout of the bulk-handling installation in parallel to the automation of the recipe. The Italian specialist provides an automated turnkey system, complete with hardware and software design.
© CEPI
Reliable traceability
Each recipe is customized in the system; they can be extremely complex, on multiple lines and with multiple phases on each line. It can coordinate with any third-party system or robot on the line, and exchanges information regarding production statistics and ingredient traceability.
Cepi Silos monitoring system virtually labels each lot from the moment it enters the warehouse, and transfers this label through all production steps, adding additional information when necessary and data provided from Cepi’s production management system. Additional checks can be performed, such as checks on dosing with manual scales. For such special ingredients, the system double-checks that the dosed lot is the same as the lot loaded for such specific dosing. The monitoring system follows comprehensive steps:
+ As soon as materials enter the warehouse, they are assigned a ‘digital ID’ – a bar code, via the company’s native software TRACKING SYSTEM, attaching a virtual label to the lot, with product loading times, names, quantities, expiration dates, packing slip, supplier, and any other information the manufacturer deems necessary, explains Montalti.
+ The ingredients are ready for dosing in production, the information will be carried through the dosing process, and is made available for any other traceability software operating in the factory.
+ The lot loaded for dosing earns a second digitalization with a bar code. The new data details the loaded weight, loaded units (bags, bowls, etc.) and loading times. “We also perform a congruence check to verify that each ingredient is transferred into the appropriate silo,” she adds.
+ TRACKING SYSTEM receives a history of production operations from Cepi’s touch panels that manage the respective operations on the lines. The information is available for all dosing and unloading operations of each ingredient lot, including all stations and conveying systems it moves through
+ All this information is stored on a SQL server and can be exchanged with an ERP or MES system if available.
Ingredients of all kinds
All milk derivatives (e.g., whey, milk powder) require complex mechanical engineering and their automation must manage temperature-related processes such as drying and cooling, the specialist recommends. For eggs and other liquid products, a washing system must be provided, and fermentation processes need a very complex software design as they include multiple delicate steps: loading, fermentation, cooling, refreshing, and washing. Salt and sugar may cause lumps, which must be either be prevented with appropriate storing and dosing technologies, or dealt with using lump breaking systems. Viscous ingredients such as hazelnut paste require specific transport and dosing methods.
Cepi Silos also recommends cooling the flour, to avoid seasonal variations that impact leavening times and create unevenness in the finished product. “The flour will also benefit from fluidization and oxygenation, which enable a faster but natural maturation, improving the flour’s rheological properties without using additives,” Montalti highlights.
Cepi provides tailored setup recommendations depending on the selected dosing method, the recipe itself, the type of ingredient (powder or liquid), and its relevance (meaning the quantity and frequency of dosing). Continuous dosing is the preferred choice when the downstream technological process requires it, as the material flow is continuous itself, and stations are not emptied. Batch dosing is the most common and it applies to the majority of hoppers: addition- or subtraction-weighed hoppers, flow meters and micro-ingredient hoppers.
Accuracy is first and foremost achieved through the complete automatization of the dosing system: all operations starting from loading, storing stations to conveyance and dosing, and including all processes and parameters such as temperature, pH, and atmosphere.
