Subsidiaries of TMG – MECATHERM and ABI – will be exhibiting together at the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), which is running from September 18 to 21 in Las Vegas this year.
In awareness of the challenges facing food manufacturers including labour shortages, inflation and supply chain tensions, both companies will be showcasing their solutions to support bakeries in addressing these challenges.
“As our industry currently stands, proximity between suppliers and customers is essential to enable expertise sharing and quick adaption of technology,” said Olivier Sergent, President of MECATHERM and TMG. “At MECATHERM and ABI, we are highly committed to bringing a high level of service quality to our customers in North America.”
At IBIE MECATHERM will be introducing M-Care, a predictive maintenance application that enables industrial bakeries to detect anomalies in equipment early, prevent breakdowns, and provide operators and maintenance staff with guidance for initial maintenance checks. Visitors to the exhibition will see demonstrations of this digital solution on their tablets or smartphone.
ABI will be highlighting their innovative vision system, a proprietary software designed for bakery manufacturing. The software compiles and analyses visual data captured from a number of sources which includes 2D, 3D or thermal. The system then processes it in real-time to provide robots with guidance to improve dough and product handling, and packing.
The range of MECATHERM’s solutions has increased in recent years, such as the MECAFLEX line which integrates the M-TA tunnel oven and the M-UB handling system which has the ability to produce a wide range of products from different process combinations. It aims to bring flexbility and easily adapt production to meet current and future consumer demand.
MECATHERM will be underlining the interest of using vertical ovens – being very compact, this type of oven is easy to operate and presents an interesting solution for manufacturers that want to optimise their energy usage as energy losses during operation are minimal.
Visitors will be able to visit the MECABAGEL line in a virtual reality experience, a line that produces a wide variety of bagels in different shapes, sizes and flavours. ABI and MECATHERM combined their expertise working on this solution, which was brought to market in 2020.
ABI will also be featuring a robotic scoring system with an automated tool changeover feature. Scoring blade options include ultrasonic drag, ultrasonic plunge, waterjet or conventional multi-blade. The system changes to the tool depending on the complexity of the cut or on the final product.
MECATHERM are planning on opening a new office in Toronto, Canada, according to to Raymond Nogael, in a bid to build on their local service team, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
“To serve the entire region better, MECATHERM plans to open a new office in Toronto, Canada very soon,” explained Raymond Nogael, Vice-President Marketing & Business Development at TMG. “This new team will mainly be dedicated to services activities and will complement the existing team already in place at ABI in Toronto.”
“Located in Toronto, Canada, ABI continues to be the ideal hub to serve the North American market,” added Alex Kuperman, CEO at ABI LTD. “In addition to providing support and service to our customers … We offer a wide variety of robotic and automation solutions, including our new machine vision technology. These cutting-edge tools help bakeries optimize production, maximize flexibility, and help our customers adapt quickly to ever-changing market conditions.”
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