bake - May/June 2022 - 10

equipment
Production
Efficiency
Companion Baking's new palletizing robot - affectionately called
Bruce Banner (aka The Incredible Hulk) by the staff - enables
this innovative St. Louis bakery the ability to achieve a higher
level of production efficiency and equipment sophistication.
Companion's latest projects have allowed them to carve out a
unique niche as a mid-sized bread distributor with vast customization
capabilities. Through semi-automation and tools such as
Redzone, the baking company is able to produce around 150
different SKUs, five days a week, in an organized and efficient
manner - all in a floor space of 42,000 square feet.
As a part of her role in overseeing and training new team members,
operations manager Suman Shekar has made it a goal to
bring new technologies and production processes to the bakery
floor. She has found that semi-automation allows for members
of the Companion team to have personal interaction with the
greater production process, all while making their lives easier
and safer.
" In order to help grow the company, we needed to open our
ears to what technology was out there, " Shekar says. " With all
the technology that is now around us, we are capable of creating
opportunity every time we move forward. "
A few of the key technologies that are changing the game at
Companion include:
As one of the biggest, fastest growing manufacturing technology
companies in frontline teamwork and productivity,
Redzone has fully opened the eyes of Companion
team to the need for an updated production processes.
Shekar is able to track Companion's efficiency against
the standard. Each time dough is made, cut, or put in an
oven, Redzone tracks timing and provides ways for the
team to improve. In addition, it has served as a communication
tool for employee onboarding and professional
development.
Since this realization, Companion has reduced its annual
waste by over 1 million pounds in just two and a
half years and is making strides to go to zero waste-tolandfill
by 2025.
Further, shipping to 400-plus restaurants, grocery
stores, and partners is no small feat. The green Companion
robot assists with palletizing and heavy lifting,
working around the clock so that labor can be dispersed
to other areas of the bakery floor.
" Certainly, as we transitioned more into frozen product
manufacturing, this system gives us a tremendous
amount of transparency, which is critical to communicating
with our customers, " says Companion's founder
Josh Allen. " This system also does not remain static.
Overall, we are about 70% to 80% of where we want to
be. This system is a huge tool for us. I am blown away by
the transparency we can present to customers through
tracking and our ability to hone in on the supply chain. "
Allen praises the communication tools. " Chat features,
photography, video. We can communicate from
one shift to the next. "
10 < MAY-JUN 2022 | bakemag.com
COMPANION
http://www.bakemag.com
bake - May/June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of bake - May/June 2022
