Skyrocketing ingredient prices, stricter government sanitation regulations, growing consumer demand for whole-grain baked goods and a host of other factors are prompting some bakers to take a hard look at their current equipment and decide to invest in new machinery.

Expanded several times, Turano Baking Co.’s Berwyn, Ill., headquarters production plant features three fully-automated makeup lines and three semi-automated lines that can produce some 200 stock-keeping units overall and generate as many as 150 types of fresh products each day. Starting out as a 2,000-sq.-ft. storefront in the early 1960s, the facility now is a 185,000-sq.-ft. dynamo of action.

Bakery and snack producers want durable conveyors that are easy to clean, maintain and versatile for current and future production needs. Manufacturers say new equipment designs address these objectives.

Equipment Briefs from various Suppliers. Check it out!

Don Pancho Authentic Mexican Foods’ state-of-the-art tortilla production facility in Halifax, N.C., is now fully onstream, paving the way for tortillas to become a weekly staple in the non-Hispanic market. Adding three more production lines at the Halifax location, the company is offering an array of new, better-for-you tortillas, wraps and chips that are helping make the most of its dynamic tortilla business.

A critical aspect on any production line, the package handling function may require one conveyor section, multiple lanes or hundreds of integrated material handling accumulators, elevators, lowerators, robotics, controllers and more. We asked several manufacturers what’s new in package handling equipment and systems to make your manufacturing operation more productive.