36
Oven Zones Monitored
< 2 hrs
Complaint Resolution Time
2 in 3 mo.
In-run Deviations Caught
Eliminated
Manual Log Sheets
The Challenge
The bakery produces over 40 SKUs across three tunnel oven lines. Oven temperature profiles — zone set points, actual zone temperatures, and belt speeds — were recorded manually by operators every 30 minutes on paper log sheets. When a customer returned a batch of bread rolls citing inconsistent texture, the quality team could not confirm whether the correct bake profile had been followed, as the paper logs for that shift were partially illegible. Separately, raw material traceability was limited to daily flour delivery records with no link to individual production batches, making a targeted recall practically impossible.
The Solution
Deployed Batch and Recipe Management and Product Traceability on MACHHUB. Each of the three tunnel ovens is equipped with 12 heating zones instrumented with Autonics TCN4S temperature controllers reading from type-K thermocouples — 36 controllers in total, connected via Modbus RTU over RS-485. In addition, the Omron CP1E-N PLC on each oven line was connected via Host Link to collect belt speed, damper positions, and zone set point changes in real time. Each production batch is now digitally opened by scanning the flour, improver, and packaging lot barcodes; the system automatically links all raw material GRNs, the active recipe, and the continuous oven temperature log to a single batch record. Bake profile deviations — any zone temperature outside ±5°C of set point for more than two consecutive minutes — trigger an immediate supervisor alert.
The Result
Oven temperature deviations are now detected and actioned during the bake run rather than discovered in retrospect. In the three months following go-live, two bake profile deviations were caught in real time and corrected before the product left the oven — both would previously have reached the customer. A subsequent customer complaint was resolved in under two hours with a complete digital batch record including the full oven temperature log. The team eliminated manual temperature logging entirely across all three lines.
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