Adjusting Roll Production During Coronavirus

Our team analyzes how retail bakeries and restaurants can adjust their roll production in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Evolving Business Practices

The coronavirus outbreak was a gamechanger on how businesses across the globe manage daily operations. As we evolve and adapt to our new normal, bakers and bakery owners may be struggling to adapt their production in a way that adheres to CDC & WHO guidelines such as social distancing/physical distancing. We remain committed to addressing these production issues using creative strategies and impactful equipment solutions.

Common Issues

1. Pre-outbreak, rolls were typically produced by hand using a small group of workers. For example, one worker would scale the dough while 2 – 3 individuals round or mould dough together in close quarters. How can production continue without sacrificing output while also maintaining CDC guidelines?

2. A large quantity of rolls were produced by multiple employees pre-outbreak. However, staff has now become limited with the work of multiple employees now being shifted on a select few or single person. How can a reduced staff/single person produce the number of rolls needed in conjunction with the additional workload?

Equipment Solutions

A dough divider rounder can help maintain social distancing, streamline your production, and reduce workload.

Social Distancing: The divider rounder can help bakeries maintain physical distancing recommendations of at least 6ft on the production floor, with use by only one or two workers.

• 2 Person Operation – While one employee can scale the dough onto rounding plates in one work area, another can be dividing and rounding using the dough rounder in a separate work area.
• 1 Person Operation – Single person operation (as needed) can easily be achieved using this machine.

Streamlining Production: The divider rounder can help bakeries streamline their production both during and after COVID-19. This machine can easily adapt to product demands while reducing the amount of time needed to produce rolls. This includes the potential for increased output in comparison to current production methods.

Workload Reduction: The divider rounder can greatly reduce the amount of workload required versus manual production. This is especially useful when staffing is limited. There are also different automation levels available that can help reduce the amount of strain required by the operator.

Benefits

An investment in equipment during this difficult time can help reap benefits both in the short and long term. This includes:

• Production stability regardless of staffing concerns
• Streamlining production resulting in time savings and increased output
• Reduce worker strain, enabling production to occur more quickly and efficiently
• Enable staff to pivot towards other production concerns more quickly and efficiently
• Ability to process multiple sizes of rolls in a single machine (see information regarding additional Knife Head Assemblies below).

Bonus Tips

Below are some additional considerations that can help improve your production:

• Consider purchasing additional rounding plates so that you can phase your production more easily. Having multiple plates can help you prep multiple presses in a single step as opposed to having to wait until more plates are processed and become available. This is also dependent upon your product type.
• Consider purchasing additional Knife Head Assemblies (KHA). This will enable you to produce additional products using a single machine. This system is available on Semi RH, Easy, and Easy Plus divider rounder models.
• Consider outlining the production floor with social/physical distancing markers. This can be as simple as using masking tape to outline designated workspaces. This may also include placing plexiglass dividers between workers in a production line setting.