Baking & Snack - April 2010 - 12

ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION | ANNE GIESECKE

Managers

Challenge all departments
to work together to cut
costs, improve quality and
meet corporate goals.

Stimulating
CHANGE

anagement leadership must provide
the big picture of a company's goals
and challenge staff to think about
new and better ways of operating.
Top managers can write corporate responsibility and mission statements; however, to implement those economic, sustainable and social
objectives, everyone in the company must
work together. Formulating the right questions
and getting answers is good for business.
FORMULATION FRONT. Challenge the
production department to review the formulas in each bakery and compare them.
An anomaly could represent the product to
benchmark or a bakery that needs assistance.
If formulas have not been reviewed during the
past year or two, suppliers will often come in
free of charge and help optimize formulas.
Suppliers can advise on improved enrichment options that may allow for better-foryou labels or health claims. They also may
be able to reduce or correct the ingredient
mix to meet changing consumer demands
such as reduced-sodium and trans-fat-free
products. Suppliers are familiar with new
ingredients to improve the quality of the
finished product.
In many ways, ingredient optimization
can save time and money. For example,
the amount of yeast and when it is added
to the dough makes critical differences in
ethanol emissions. Optimizing yeast could
limit emissions compliance requirements.
Flour quality is another important variable, and supplies have been challenging.
In some cases, bakers have discovered that
when they could not get protein at the
usual 13% that their product was actually
better at 11% protein.

BAKING & SNACK / April 2010

Question the plan for discontinuing underperforming products.
Determine the optimum product
mix and keep reviewing it.
EQUIPMENT EDGE. Challenge operations and engineering to optimize the production
work flow. Fewer units per minute may mean
more products out the door as profit and fewer
on the floor as costly waste.
Verify that all equipment is working to
specifications and contact the manufacturer
to help solve problems. A preventive maintenance schedule that anticipates the functionality of equipment based on manufacturers'
recommendations and floor experience will
prevent some downtime. Based on use, all
equipment should have replacement criteria
and a plan for replacement. Determine how
many breakdowns can be tolerated.
Reduction targets for water, electricity
and gas should be proposed by management and discussed with the supervisors
so that the targets are realistic in percentreductions and target year.
Permits for all agencies usually require annual reports and need to be reviewed annually
to determine whether or not changes need to
be made to permits to match current equipment use, production and training.
HUMAN RESOURCES REVIEW. Human
resources and supervisors should review job
descriptions annually. Descriptions should
ensure that available staffing is doing the work
that needs to be done.
Job descriptions can also ensure that the
people who need to talk with each other are
talking. Clear lines of communication should

be defined among
accounting, sales, information
technology, production, engineering, sanitation and management. Ask if people have the
information that they need to do their job.
Computerized information systems are
more timely and accurate than paper systems. Determine what departments need
computers to work efficiently and share
information. Use a team to determine what
can be done better by computers or robotics. Determine whether fewer people can
do the same work or more work. Ask what
new skills are coming into the plant. Take
advantage of the work skills that they can
offer rather than forcing people into the
ways things have always been done.
BEYOND THE COMPANY. Challenge your
suppliers and ask what they are doing to
reduce their costs and costs to you. Be prepared to share your sustainability and operational standards with your customers and
possibly consumers.
Managers can lead by asking the tough
questions, facilitating communication and listening as information comes from the people
on the floor. Managers can then make the
decisions that move the company forward.
Beware of the cliché, "But this is the way
we have always done it" - that doesn't make
bread in today's world.
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Baking & Snack - April 2010

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