Industry: Bread & Bakery
How can you turn a small artisanal pastry business into a medium-size industrial enterprise? The Polish company Staropolska found an answer to this question – by taking major steps towards digitization and automation. In this way, owner Wojciech Kozłowski has achieved a fivefold increase in production volumes.
Craft, yes – but supported by information technology
With his traditionally manufactured cakes, gateaux and pastries, Wojciech Kozłowski suits the taste of many consumers. At the ultramodern pastry shop, still a lot of products are made by hand, and the company plans to “keep it this way”. To make this business model economically viable, the managing director relies on the latest technologies and an integrated business software. In doing so, Staropolska pursues a coherent optimization strategy for its business, which like many other food producers is confronted with high raw material prices: Any potential digital improvement should be used to make the operations more efficient and, consequently, to produce faster and more cost-effectively. In order to prevent any interruptions in the flow of information, interfaces to a separate production planning system or even the coexistence of several systems like Access or Excel have to be avoided.
Better planning and control
The software by CSB is not only used to order raw materials from the suppliers, but also to manage customer orders, organize the inventory, check the quality and ensure traceability. In addition, the subsidiaries and their cash registers are connected to the central system.
In light of the short shelf life of the fresh products, exact and up-to-date information on orders, raw materials, ingredients, product calculations and quality information is increasingly important. This posed a particular challenge for the project. Today, Staropolska is able to plan the use of raw materials, auxiliary supplies and operating materials in an optimal way, thus making sure that the right raw materials are supplied with the right quality at the right time and at the right machines. Supported by the system, the staff plans the optimal sequence with varying levels of detail. As a result, the orders in the sponge, cream and fruit cake divisions can be produced with constantly high quality while keeping the set-up changes to a minimum.
The improvements in planning have a direct effect on the processes in the different departments. “We were able to substantially reduce our raw material stocks, to optimize our production and consequently, to boost the effectiveness of our company.”
Digitization enables quick wins and long-term success
Staropolska is a good example of how digitization often starts small, producing quick results in the operation, and then continually yields further benefits for the company. For example, the recipes in dough processing and other production departments are now displayed digitally. Given the direct link between the scales and the ERP system, the processing accuracy is enhanced significantly. When the individual raw materials are weighed, the weight data of the scale are transferred directly to the system, practically ruling out any processing errors. This ensures again a high and reproducible product quality, and it minimizes losses caused by incorrect weighing. Collecting and processing all data digitally also enables Wojciech Kozłowski to establish precise evaluations, even with his smartphone.
These numerous improvements laid the foundation for the big growth of the pastry shop, which has achieved a fivefold increase in production volumes over the past 10 years. This trend should continue: “We will build a new bakery because the one we have now has become too small. In the new plant, we will again rely on the software by CSB.”
