Automated Bakery

(also, automated bread-baking plant), an enterprise in which all the production processes for making bread are completely automated. Bread is produced in such bakeries on automatic transfer machines designed to produce specific kinds of baked goods.

Flour is transported to automated bakeries in the tanks of flour trucks; the yeast, salt, sugar, shortening, and other ingredients are delivered in specialized motor vehicles. The flour is stored in hoppers inside the bakery and transferred by pneumatic devices. The other ingredients are stored in liquid form in tanks and are transported through pipes. The flour is measured by continuous batchers, and the liquid ingredients by automatic metering devices. The dough is prepared by integrated machines that combine continuous kneading mechanisms and fermentation equipment. The dough is then divided into pieces and shaped on production lines that consist of dividing, rounding, and forming machines and conveyor installations for proofing the dough in pieces. The bread is baked in automated conveyor ovens.

The operating modes of the dough-making equipment, production lines, and ovens are monitored and regulated to suit the characteristics of the ingredients and any change in the enterprise’s operating conditions. The baked bread is transported to an automated storeroom that includes bread storage and dispatching facilities; there it is kept in containers until shipped to market.