Baking & Snack - March 2006 - 42

ᮡ Optical sorters examine every tortilla made, rejecting those that don't
meet standards.
engineer Bud Lung managed building prep, and layout
and equipment aspects were handled by Adam Sachounni, project engineer. Mountain Top has yet to appoint a
plant manager, so filling that role is Constantino (Tino)
Flores, a technical advisor on Mr. Solano's regional staff.
ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY. At Mission Foods, laying
out a new plant is usually an occasion to try new technology. Mountain Top is no exception. "When you compare
this plant to Rancho Cucamonga or Olympic, its processes and methods are the same, and the construction of the
building is similar, but here we have some of the newest
variations on available technology," Mr. Solano said. And
some pieces are getting their first full-scale application in
the Mission Foods plant system.
"For example, we evaluate the press lines' tortillas
using automated optical inspection systems," Mr. Solano explained.
Mission Foods engineers first saw the Dipix Technologies optical system at IBIE 2004. The company tested the
method at its Jefferson plant and chose to fully implement it at Mountain Top.
Product consistency, particularly in size, is critical to the
company's food service clients, according to Mr. Solano.

44 / BAKING & SNACK / March 2006

"Their portion control methods require it," he explained.
"Too large a tortilla means too much 'give away' at the restaurant, and too small would prompt customer complaints."
Other advanced technologies deployed at Mountain Top include new generations of forming, baking
and stacking equipment, controlled by computer. The
lines use advanced electronic packages including AllenBradley PanelView Plus 1000 touch-screen terminals.
The majority of the processing equipment comes from
Tecnomaíz. Mission Foods works closely with the engineers at this sister company. Among the results of such
collaboration are the T-750 ovens, which operate cool to
the touch on the exterior. Equipped with Flynn Burners,
the ovens hold interior temperatures of 550 to 600°F with
no temperature loss or hot spots.
The state of the art extends to sanitary design and operation, too. "You'll notice that we did something here
that improves overall sanitation. We installed all piping
runs above the ceiling instead of in the production zones,"
Mr. Solano said. "All you see are the vertical drops."
Use of dusting flour is carefully controlled. "There's generally nothing that falls to the floor," Mr. Solano observed.
"That's what a first-class plant is supposed to look like."
Lighting also fosters better sanitation and worker safety. "Lighting in the plant was laid out to be brighter than
at other facilities," he said. "During startup, the American
Institute of Baking gave us an onsite training session, and
its inspectors loved the facility."
INTENSE TRAINING. Because of the pace of growth at Mission Foods, it had to hire locally for every position at Mountain Top. The company put together an intensive training
program to fill the gap between a plant full of new equipment and a staff with no experience in making tortillas.
Before startup, the people hired for skilled positions as
operators and mechanics received 160 hours of training. The
company sent them to its Goldsboro and Jefferson plants
for two weeks at a time to work with operators in those facilities who ran equipment similar to what was going into
Mountain Top. Operators for the Rademaker line trained at
Rancho Cucamonga where the company's other such line is
installed. "They would return for one weekend and then go
back for another two weeks," Mr. Solano explained.
Members of the quality assurance staff were also put
through a similar 4-week schedule, while shipping and
warehouse staff received 80 hours of offsite training. Training was done on a rotating basis to coordinate with the
staged startup of the plant's lines. The second and third
generations of hires are receiving their training locally.
During actual startup, Mission Foods brought in
teams from different locations to work with the trained
Mountain Top operators and mechanics. Members of
the packing crews were trained onsite by individuals
from these startup teams.

Baking & Snack - March 2006

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