Endoline systems rise to the occasion for Olympic artisan baker
A baker and supplier of artisan breads has recently opened a £3 million state of the art factory on the back of their Olympic 2012 success and Endoline Machinery has helped them reach gold production standard with their fully automated turnkey packaging line – which now sees an output of around 1,000 cases per day.
Speciality Breads produce over 100 different types of handmade breads, from focaccias to brioche and ciabattas, at their Margate based production plant. After winning the bakery contract to supply bread and rolls to the Olympic team in 2012, demand for their produce has grown with annual sales increasing by 30% over the last 3 years. As a direct result Speciality Breads has recently opened a second 3,000 square metre site, just minutes away from the original bakery which opened almost 20 years ago.
Flying the flag for British Manufacturers and suppliers, including only using Red Tractor* certified flour, Speciality Breads employed the expertise of end of line system expert Endoline Machinery to install a state of the art high speed packaging line. Endoline, who design and manufacture all of their systems from their Bedfordshire based factory, installed and integrated additional supplier equipment into the fully automated packing line – at a speed of 8 cases per minute.
Speciality Breads freshly bake a daily supply of 20 different lines of artisan breads which are immediately frozen and packed to be distributed to the UK’s leading bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and caterers via the many wholesalers they supply across the UK.
Once frozen the loaves and rolls are immediately packed onto crates and transported to the packing station. At the start of the line a fully automatic Endoline case erector forms the Speciality Breads cases which are then fed down to a Pattyn bag inserter machine, which has been integrated into the line to insert a bag into each formed case.
The formed, and securely lined, cases are then transported via an inclined automated conveyor system to four packing stations where manual operators take an empty box down from head height, pack the frozen unpackaged product inside, before placing onto a lower conveyor. James Saywell, Endoline’s Southern Sales Manager, comments: “As the boxes running along the first conveyor were empty and therefore light we built this system on an incline to run at head level for the packers to ensure it was ergonomically friendly and also to make the packing process as swift as possible.” The second, lower conveyor line runs the filled boxes straight through to the Endoline case sealer to deliver a professionally sealed box. Endoline project managed the entire line and integrated an existing labeller and metal detector into the end of the conveyor. The boxes are then immediately transported back to a storage freezer to ensure they remain at an ambient temperature before being palletised and transported to customers.
“A case can be formed filled, sealed and checked within 1 minute” explains James, “this ensures that the product remains at its frozen temperature so, while packing is efficient, it is done in a timely manner to preserve quality.”
MD Peter Millen explains how the new facility is the final piece of the puzzle to ensure the company has everything it needs to continue to move forward: “With the UK foodservice sector as vibrant and diverse as it is and interest in our breads going through the roof, this new site was vital for us in order to keep up with demand and continue to grow. Our new facility and the automated Endoline packing line give us the high-spec packaging plant I envisaged and it offers Speciality Breads scope for future growth.”
