Expert interview* WP is a solution provider for automation
The automation experts at WP BAKERY TECHNOLOGIES see themselves as a comprehensive solution provider and project planning partner for fully automated baking processes. Starting with an analysis of demand and product range, planning also takes into account the branch structure and the balance between centralized and decentralized production. Project manager Jörg Lauer explains in the interview how, in addition to the operational and procedural requirements, the structural conditions must be assessed and transformed into solutions.
What levels of automation do your loading systems offer to allow bakeries to choose the right solution for their size?
Jörg Lauer: WP offers semi-automatic and fully automatic loading systems for all versions of the MATADOR deck oven. Depending on requirements and possibilities, loading systems ranging from simple controls to fully automatic recipe-controlled loading systems are available. The ovens and the loading system are controlled centrally as an integrated unit.
How do you make sure that your ovens and loading systems are as user-friendly as possible?
Jörg Lauer: The touch screen control enables user-friendly operation. The connection to the WP BakeryControl software enhances the monitoring and control functions. The software schedules capacity utilization, monitors the process, determines energy consumption, manages recipes, and activates night start-ups.
What assistance functions do your systems offer to support personnel in their daily work?
Jörg Lauer: WP BakeryControl is cloud-based software used for production planning, displayed on mobile devices, and enabling live monitoring on large screens in the bakery. This provides managers and employees with the same level of information and a real-time overview of processes. This makes baking, empty and removal times, and of course faults, visible and assessable.
What other innovations are you currently working on to make your loading systems even more efficient?
Jörg Lauer: The focus is on usability and connectivity. This means that the systems will be even easier to operate. At the same time, we are working on digitally recording, mapping, and controlling the baking process from kneading to baking, thereby enabling digital batch management.
