While manufacturing buns and rolls in high volumes is in itself a challenge, having the product variety to meet changing consumer trends takes challenges to the next level, in everything from mastering production scaling to the equipment itself. Operator skill is also essential to maintaining efficiency, and especially so when experienced bakers and operators are hard to come by. To sustain high-volume production, absolute control over each step of the process is a must. Automated equipment is essential for this. Bruce Campbell , Vice President – Global Product Technology at AMF Bakery Systems, illustrates: “When bakers run a 96,000 buns/hour line, that means about 27 pieces are made every second. At such a production rate, the system must be well balanced and must react to variable operating conditions.” To support this kind of system, the company recently developed the AMFConnect data management system, which provides live reports about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Diagnostics. The line also includes a newly-redesigned make-up system, which is now easier to clean and comes with additional food and operator safety features, based on EHEDG guidelines.

The line can manufacture soft hamburger buns, assorted rolls and hot dog buns.