Smart Applicator
With energy and raw material prices constantly rising, increasing efficiency in your bakery operation has never been more crucial. And many bakeries are finding energy savings thanks to connected equipment and smart data analysis. But what about saving on ingredients? In products such as pizzas that require multi-stage assembly, the complexity of the production process can often lead to ingredient wastage and give-away. But now, thanks to AMF’s Bakery Intelligence solutions, there is a way to minimize waste and ensure optimal results with minimum operator intervention.
AI: Your Ally in the Bakery
The advent of Industry 4.0 has seen a surge in the use of automation and AI to optimize processes and increase profit margins across sectors. Machine learning and other emerging technologies are becoming increasingly common in the bakery sector, too, and it’s no wonder; they can be a huge asset when it comes to streamlining baking processes and increasing production output. AMF has long been an innovator in industrial bakery technology. Below, we’ll zoom in on one application of AI that’s already bringing savings to dozens of bakeries around the world.
Take a Slice Out of your Ingredient Costs
We all know products requiring multi-stage assembly can be complex to produce on an industrial scale. And pizza topping can be one of the biggest challenges thanks to the layers of different ingredients required. Thankfully, AMF Tromp has a smart solution to reduce waste and make the process simple: The AMF Tromp Smart Applicator automated pizza topping process.
The “waterfall” method of adding topping ingredients such as cheese has the advantage of speed. But it often requires high operator involvement, and this can lead to variations in product consistency. It also tends to result in the wastage of expensive ingredients. Thanks to AMF Tromp Smart Solutions, we can now automate the process to reduce ingredient wastage and eliminate variations in product quality – meaning you can focus on producing more products that your customers will love. Here are some key facts to whet your appetite …
Automation Never Tasted so Good
The AMF Tromp Smart Applicator automation process addresses three key pain points: ingredient wastage, high labor costs per line, and product consistency and quality control. AMF Tromp has developed a smart, self-learning pizza ingredient applicator system that uses advanced imaging technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze pizzas for topping coverage and overall weight.
Using the pizza analysis data, the Smart Applicator artificial intelligence system actively calculates optimal machine settings and adjusts them in real-time to control the baseline product quality. This drastically reduces the amount of cheese and other toppings wasted, as well as the operator involvement required.
The “secret sauce” of our Smart Applicator solution is the AMF Cheese Ratio – it’s the new market-standard indicator that shows you the amount and weight of cheese or topping strewed on pizzas on the production belt. You determine the ratio you want, and our AI will do the rest. Anomalies are detected and remedied automatically, meaning no operator intervention is required!
And thanks to our advanced AI system, the applicator trains itself via machine learning to improve constantly, guaranteeing you ever-better results. With each new shift, the system learns how to optimize your settings to make the most of your operating setup, helping you achieve the ideal topping distribution – and improving the quality of production runs time after time. Best of all, any cheese or other toppings that are not used in the first round are re-circulated to reduce wastage even further.
Advanced Technology, Exceptional Savings
To make sure you’re getting the best value from your solution, we’ll calculate your projected return on investment (ROI) before purchase. The Smart Applicator system can be integrated in any production line, even the ones doing thousands of pizzas per hour, with 16-hour shifts. On average, this means reductions in wastage and give-away of expensive ingredients like cheese by up to 3% annually. In many production environments, that translates into savings of many thousands of euros per year. And most customers see a return on investment in less than one year. You’ll also see savings when it comes to labor costs and the elimination of incomplete and faulty products.
The new Bakery Intelligence service by AMF Tromp is consistently striving to make your bakery more intelligent, efficient, and profitable. And it’s not just for cheese. We’re also developing applicator solutions for seeds, nuts, vegetables, protein, and other toppings. The service is managed centrally to provide you with regular system updates, so you know you’re getting the most advanced AI solutions. And with 24/7 service, we’ll be there to answer all your questions, whenever they arise.
If you’re thinking of preparing your bakery operation for rising ingredient costs with AMF Tromp’s automated solutions, find out more about the AMF Tromp Smart Applicator system or contact Lex Van Houten [email protected]