At the Thomas Tunnock factory near Glasgow, a continuous flow of hot caramel moves through the facility. Originating on the second floor, it travels via conveyor belts to the first, filling the building with a sweet, warm scent.
However, handling caramel is a complex task. Experienced staff must ensure its consistency is perfect, and a team of 12 is required to meticulously spread the five layers that form each Tunnock’s wafer biscuit.
Stuart Louden, the firm’s engineering and transport manager and a fifth-generation family member, notes that approximately 20 tonnes of caramel are produced daily. He explains that “Operators do a lot of caramel testing, just on sight and on feel. So basically, they walk up to the caramel and just give it a squeeze.”
Once prepared, the caramel is transported by conveyor to the spreading team on the floor below. Mr. Louden emphasizes the difficulty: “Spreading caramel onto wafers is very, very difficult because it’s so sticky.”
While caramel spreading remains a labor-intensive aspect of Tunnock’s operations, much of the factory is automated. The company consistently adopts new technology to stay competitive, especially as a smaller entity against larger snack manufacturers like McVitie’s or Fox’s.
Mr. Louden states, “We are a small fish in a big pond, and to try and keep up with some of these bigger companies that we are competing against, you’ve got to have the good machines there to get the output.”
Although machines are available for night-time caramel spreading, human workers offer greater flexibility and require less space. Combined, machines and humans produce around seven million wafer bars and 4.5 million tea cakes weekly.
Increasing output involves balancing traditional methods with modern efficiency. For instance, Tunnock’s marshmallow production, like its caramel, relies on close human supervision. Additionally, the wafer bar’s wrapper is folded rather than sealed, a traditional method that, if changed to sealing, could speed up the production line. This adherence to tradition evokes nostalgia for customers, with Mr. Louden noting, “It’s a nice thing. If you give people a caramel wafer, and somebody’s not had one for 20 or 30, years, they go, ‘I remember having one of these when I was a kid’.”
Innovating with Robotics in Baking
A new robotic arm for the cake industry aims to bridge the gap between production speed and traditional craftsmanship. Canada’s Unifiller, a Coperion Group technology brand specializing in food production equipment, spent years developing this robot arm, named HIRO.
HIRO is designed for cake decoration and can handle various toppings, including caramel. Derek Lanoville, Coperion’s research and development manager, explains, “If you can squeeze it through a pastry bag… then it will go through our equipment and the decorating tips.”
Developing equipment for the food industry presents unique challenges, with hygiene being paramount. Mr. Lanoville stresses, “You have to make things easy to take apart, so that people clean them. The bottom line is, if it’s not easy to take apart, you don’t clean it.”
Unifiller collaborated with Swiss robotics firm Stäubli to create an easily cleanable robotic arm.
Another complexity arises from the inherent variability of food products like cakes. Unlike other industries where components are uniform, cakes on a production line can differ slightly in size, shape, or height, which can pose difficulties for robots. Mr. Lanoville notes, “The cake may not be perfectly centred on the cardboard it’s sitting on. It may be a little bit oval, may be a little bit higher or slightly domed. So, our solution has to accommodate that.”
The Enduring Value of Human Touch
For Anomarel Ogen, head baker at The Bread Factory, human hands remain crucial to the baking process. The Bread Factory supplies sourdough loaves to the Gail’s café chain, as well as supermarkets, shops, and restaurants, operating 24/7 in northwest London.
The bakery processes approximately 16 tonnes of flour daily, producing up to 40,000 loaves. While this is a substantial volume, it remains a medium-sized operation compared to giant bakeries.
Machines handle dough mixing and division into loaf-sized portions. The factory utilizes flours sourced from sustainable farming methods that prioritize soil health, resulting in delicate dough.
Mr. Ogen highlights the skill involved in shaping loaves, observing a worker: “Look at his hands, and look how gentle he actually is with the movement, how little pressure he is actually putting in. That requires years of skill. This is not fully replaceable by machines just yet.”
Having human staff also provides flexibility. If a recipe is adjusted, workers can monitor the dough’s response and modify the baking process as needed. Mr. Ogen emphasizes, “You can automate more, but you still need to put in gatekeeping right along the path, to make sure that you can safeguard the process.”
Striking the Right Balance: Hybrid Models
Integrating new technology into production lines always requires a careful balance, according to Craig Le Clair, principal analyst at Forrester and author of “Random Acts of Automation.”
He explains that in the food industry, the key is to develop a hybrid model that incorporates automation without sacrificing the “soul” of handcrafted products, such as decorated cakes. Le Clair advises, “Process transformation must apply automation only to areas that benefit from consistency, speed, and volume, while keeping core value-add elements strictly human.”
At Coperion, Mr. Lanoville plans further development for the robot arm. He states, “What we’re focused on this year is really nailing down our scanning, vision and safety systems, so that our customers can work the way that they work, without the robot being intrusive.”
Meanwhile, in Glasgow, Mr. Louden intends to upgrade Tunnock’s production line, but financial conditions are a major factor. Volatile cocoa prices over the past two years have significantly impacted the company. Mr. Louden explains, “When it comes to investing another two-and-a-half million pounds in equipment, we just need to wait, because the last couple of years just have not been the right time, and we don’t want to put ourselves financially in a position that it could hurt us.”
