Hertfordshire-based business Simmons Bakery has invested in a larger, upgraded Koenig Combiline to provide more flexibility, produce better-quality products and help to meet rising consumer demand. The bakery provides and delivers a variety of freshly baked rolls and baguettes daily to its 42 shops.
The new investment, the new Koenig Combiline, supplied by European Process Plant (EPP) can deliver up to 9000 rolls per hour.
“The bakery previously had an older machine that was approximately 13 years in service – although this line could produce up to 8,000 rolls per hour, parts and support for the machine was becoming difficult and therefore it was decided that an upgrade was required,” explained Rupert Matthews, Managing Director of Simmons Bakery. “The new Koenig Combiline provides more flexibility and automation to production with better quality products.” The older machine is still in production but now resides in a bakery in the North of Scotland.
Simmons Bakery was first established in 1838 and has been a family retail bakery business since, with 41 bakery shops serving the Hertfordshire area. The new investment allows the business more flexibility and variety to produce a wider range of more consistent and higher quality products.
Additionally, the new Combiline has reduced the need for manual lifting of the dough, as this is now automated, it boasts more consistency and has high-quality moulds for the dough pieces and can also carry out automatic seeding for the rolls where required.
“We use the new Koenig Combiline for lots of short runs, as we produce a large variety of different types and sizes of rolls and baguettes with seeds and without,” added Rupert. “We make today and deliver tomorrow.”
Prior to making the purchase, EPP arranged for Rupert and the team at Simmons Bakery to visit the Koenig factory in Graz, Austria. The team were able to send out their ingredients ahead of their visit to the factory to carry out tests on their own bakery products and to see the machine in action. The team visited again once their machine was built and prior to being shipped to the UK to ensure everything was working as planned.
“The installation all went very well and was managed well by the team at EPP, with full production being made in a couple of days and much quicker than expected,” commented Rupert.
“Working with Rupert and the team at Simmons Bakery was a pleasure,” added Roger Mott of EPP. “Koenig and EPP were appreciative to win this important business. We look forward to working with Simmons Bakery on future projects.”
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