An ultra modern Dosetec automation system doses raw material for bread and Kareliean pasties.
Fazer Bakeries is among the market leaders on the Finnish bread market. Fazer Concern have invested considerable sums of money on bakery industry in recent years. A new bakery was started in Lappeenranta, Finland at the end of 2003. The production of the bakery is about 7 million kilograms a year. Four million euros of this come from Karelian rice pasties; meaning that about 40,000 pasties are manufactured per hour.
Fully automated according to CE directives
The Dosetec Dosing System delivered by Dosetec included
- flour dosing from silos to hopper scale and further into dough mixers
- small component and big bag dosing
- dosing of liquids
Furthermore, the delivery included control automation with Siemens PLC. The dosing of flour from silos is carried out by screw conveyors; thus great capacity and top accuracy are achieved. Big bag materials and small components are dosed into the hopper scale by vacuum conveying. Small component dosing is carried out by weighing the storage bin; so free fall material can be minimized and optimum accuracy can be reached. Small component bins are equipped with agitators which prevent the raw material from making blocks inside the hopper. The weighed batch is conveyed from the hopper scale to receiving bins. The flour dust arising during discharge to the mixer, is vacuumed back into the bin and emptied into the mixer.
An ultra modern Dosetec automation system doses raw material for bread and Karelian pasties
The liquids and the sour dough are dosed into the bowl placed on the platform scale. On the Karelian paste line, rice and milk powder are dosed on their own separate dosing lines with their own special silos, pneumatic transport and hopper scales. In the bottom of the weighing hopper for rice there is a discharge screw that can be automatically moved above the chosen cooking tank. The weighed batch is discharged into the cooking tank after confirmation.
Control systems are always designed to meet customer requirements
The dosing is controlled by a touch panel next to the receiving hoppers and dough mixers. Automatic dosing and maintenance drive are operated via the touch panel. PLC and motor cabins are situated in the electric room.
The system is controlled by Siemens PLC. The valves and limit switches are connected to PLC via ASI-bus; this way there is less cabling and the system can be more easily extended. The touch panel and the weighing electronics are connected to PLC via Profibus interface. The control system is connected to SAP business solution.
Fazer Bakeries in Lappeenranta manufactures high quality products and achieves good returns
Leo Hyvärinen, the head of the regional bakery, is pleased with the carefully weighed decision the concern made. “With the Dosetec Automation System our production has gained accuracy in weighing. With the present systems dosing raw materials is carried out by full automation. Due to that our products have gained uniform quality. Considerable savings have been achieved within raw material consumption. The work done by our employees has been facilitated and they have also been released to do more meaningful tasks. The high automation degree of the Dosetec System has required our employees training and going into new matters. The innovation has increased the motivation to work, and brought a new, refreshing element to our daily toil. The level of hygiene has improved considerably and the work environment has clearly turned cleaner, for example, there is less flour dust. The ultimate consumer can sense the innovation as uniform and tasteful quality. Material waste is minimal and there are fewer errors, simply because the Dosetec System does not allow any errors.”
“Among factors influencing the purchase of the Dosetec Dosing System from Dosetec, were the flexibility and willingness to serve, as well as expertise in dosing automation. The price of every investment is also an important factor. In this case economy was also an essential factor because with the help of the investment we keep on saving constantly”, Leo Hyvärinen, the head of the regional bakery points out.