Hardware and software under one roof

A few years ago, Oripan, a software house that could show one of the first Industry 4.0 installations, became part of Sancassiano group, the Italian mixer manufacturer. Sancassianos most conspicuous feature in hardware terms is the new bowl tipper.

+According to Andrea Agosti, one of four minority shareholders of the Italian mixer manufacturer Sancassiano, where he works as Area Manger: “The trend in the baked goods industry worldwide is towards diversified high-quality products and thus to precisely defined requirements applicable to mixing technology.” So Agosti sees growth potential for his own company to a lesser extent in continuous dough production, although Sancassiano also serves this market with its own continuous mixer.

Instead, in relation to hardware, the mixer specialists from Roddi, Italy, place greater emphasis on developing nuanced mixer types like the Kryos, built specifically for doughs that must not be exposed to a large evolution of heat. Other examples include the GRE (Revo) for cookie doughs and firm batters, or the new generation of planetary mixers. The most important innovation, however, is the new bowl tipper launched on the market last year, whose speed, drop height and emptying angle can be programmed for each individual dough. All four will be exhibited at the iba trade fair in Munich in September this year.

According to Agosti, the bowl tipper is an example of the way supposedly marginal changes can show thoroughly positive results. The dough transfer speed, drop height and the rate at which the dough flows out of the tipper can all be programmed depending on the dough. There is also an option to specify if and when the emptying process is assisted by a scraper. To match this, for artisan products, there is a patented hopper that portions the dough downstream in large chunks with no degassing effect.

Taken altogether, according to Agosti, this reduces the stress on the dough, especially for doughs with a high dough yield and long fermentation time.

Ever since the “Genesi” design guideline came into force at Sancassiano in 2010, all the mixers made in Roddi have been built in such a way that the mobile bowls are interchangeable between all mixer types. The mixer tools are mounted in the mixer head without any visible screws or bolts, and are sealed in such a way that the mixer chamber can even be treated with a high-pressure cleaner. The mixers have also been provided with floor clearance and inclined rather than horizontal surfaces to ensure less contamination and easier cleaning.

All gearboxes have been banned from the mixer’s upper area and relocated to the region at the back to ensure a higher level of production safety without any oil reaching the dough. The spiral, twin spiral and Revo-mixers use an inverter to transfer power. “Wash-down” capability of the tools and mixer head is guaranteed in all cases. If the whole mixer is made from stainless steel, this even applies to the entire machine.

One exception to the interchangeable bowl style is the Kryos, a mixer that operates with a fixed-position bowl surrounded by a cooling jacket. The Kryos, which uses vertical mixing tools similar to the Hydra, is especially suitable for firm doughs with a TA (dough yield) below 155, such as pretzel or bagel doughs, as well as for frozen products including croissant, Danish or puff pastry doughs. Dough temperatures of 14 – 16°C can be maintained, thanks to the temperature control ensured by the double jacket. Because the mixer can also be put under vacuum or pressure, it is also usable for mixing based on the Chorleywood principle. According to Agosti, that’s one of the reasons why there is such a demand for the Kryos, particularly in countries influenced by the Anglo-American baking tradition that often worked using sponge doughs in the past.

The Revo mixer comes from a quite different area of work. Sancassiano developed it specifically for cookie and cracker doughs, thick batters and doughs in which little gluten development occurs, or none at all. According to Agosti, the market for these products also growing, and with it the demand for this mixer type, not least because the machine can use a wide spectrum of tools, from a cutter tool to a whisk.

One discussion topic on the iba trade fair stand will probably be the development already push-started by Sancassiano umpteen years ago when Oripan became part of the group. With support from the state and the scientific community, Oripan started an ambitious project with the purpose to integrate and to interconnect the production lines with the company processes according to the world wide standard Industry 4.0.

The system makes this data available to customers at a variety of processing levels. Based on a Guide, it shows line operators what is happening and where, and where action by them may possibly be needed. The data is also available to the production management for inclusion in the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and to be linked to the Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP). Agosti says: “It’s important to us that our customers, through the comprehensive analysis of their existing processes, can see and implement improvement potentials.” The first comprehensive installation has been operating in Italy for more than a year. +++