Baking & Snack - May 2007 - 75

all need to do a better job of that. The other issue making this problem more significant is the fact that during
the past few years, baking companies have done a good
of a job consolidating their production capacity. Most
of our production lines operate at or near capacity, so
when we have a project that involves modifying an existing production line, any glitch or delay in the start-up
of the new equipment can cause big problems. We don't
have the available open time that we might have had in
the past. That only increases the negative consequences
when a project fails to have a good start-up.
Rich Berger: And in the past, we were able to be a little
more flexible with time and ramp ups. Now it's tough.
Bakeries are so full now, capacity utilization is high, and
as a result the extra ramp-up time just isn't there.
Robert Benton: We have a little more luxury right now
than other companies because we're building new lines
and new plants rather than rebuilding or upgrading older lines. It is much easier.
But I agree that it's a communications issue. That's exactly it. You need good people who know what they're
doing communicating the nitty-gritty details to the suppliers. I let my staff engineers and the staff I have on the
bakery floor handle communications. Then, if we see it's
not getting fixed, we have to jump in and talk with the
top management of the suppliers in question.
When you get to that point, it's serious business. I feel
fortunate where we are right now. We've had two or three
great start-ups lately, but they've all been on new lines.
Jim Kline: I completely agree with Rich, but I think there's
something more fundamental. One of the concerns I
have is that many equipment manufacturers expect time
for modifications or finalization of fabrication at start-

"Managers have to be
more creative. If they
don't, they see new
faces constantly. That
affects the bottom line
in a negative way."
- Robert Benton, vice-president of manufacturing,
Flowers Foods
up. When the equipment is delivered, it rarely comes in
ready to go. I do not understand why.
Like Dermot's situation, we're lean. Not only have we
consolidated facilities, we consolidated within facilities,
and we do not have extra engineering people standing
around to baby-sit it when it starts up. The manufacturers are the same way. They do not have an abundance of
field people standing around waiting for our call.
We've seen a change in people as well. It's very difficult getting engineers, mechanics and operators to work
in our facilities. Machinery manufacturers have the same
issues. For them, it is hard to find people willing to spend
90% of their time on the road.
Rowdy Brixey: We also have to deal with the issue of
labor creep. Certain projects used to take an acceptable amount of time, and everybody hit the ground and
worked straight through the night until we were running
again. All that labor effort was on the front end. Now-adays, crews think that everything looks good early on and
they will want to work just 12-hour shifts. Many times,
the labor effort will build up on the back end when they
realize they're not ready to go, and the panic sets in.

May 2007 / BAKING & SNACK / 81

Baking & Snack - May 2007

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