Baking & Snack - August 2016 - 45

is staggered - production on Line No. 2 starts about 30 ft
downstream from the mixing and makeup on Line No. 1.
"We did that to maximize the effective use of space between
the production and packaging departments," he said.

Fast, flexible packaging
As the bars enter the packaging room, they pass through
Fortress Technology metal detection. The packaging lines
are identical, with the bars for Line No. 1 wrapped and cartoned toward the front, while Line No. 2 systems are staggered toward the back of the department that's nearest to
warehousing and distribution.
Each line has a bank of Bosch flowwrappers. A feeding
system continuously supplies bars to each wrapper. The
bars then travel along a raised conveyor - which permits
foot traffic underneath - to the cartoning and casepacking operations. After carton forming, the lines rely on
BluePrint Automation (BPA) robotic carton loaders, which
can pick and place bars into a variety of carton formats.
Changeovers can be made via touch screens.
At full operation, the automated robotic cartoning
system has the flexibility to load multiple caddy configurations simultaneously, delivering ultimate packaging
flexibility on the production line without the need for
stoppages associated with carton or case changeovers.
Cartons with different counts can easily be packed on the
same production run without an interruption in production. Each line has redundant robots so if one or two lines
needs a new suction cup, for instance, the operation keeps
running smoothly.
The cartons next head to a series of BPA robotic casepackers. The sealed cases travel up vertical spiral conveyors,
painted Clif Bar red, then along an elevated conveyor to the
warehouse, then down more conveyors to a Kaufman robotic palletizing system and shrink wrapper - one for each
production line. Each pallet carries a coded label to provide
the end of the closed-loop lot-tracking process.

The cases are then stored in the warehouse and held un- In 2010, Clif Bar & Company
moved into its headquarters
til third-party microbial testing is completed.
in Emeryville, CA, and
made signifcant sustainable
Aspiring to new heights
Just a few months after first shipping saleable products, the improvements to the site.
Clif Bar & Company

Twin Falls facility is still in its ramp-up stage - steadily
adding new bar varieties to what will eventually involve
dozens of SKUs. The plant's continuous improvement
group works side-by-side on the floor along with all supervisors and managers, including Mr. Ducommun. The
group focuses on lean manufacturing practices and Clif
Bar's version of Six Sigma with five Black and Green Belts
certified to keep the bakery operating at a high level.
"Senior leadership felt that it was important to have that
group available right from the start, and it was really helpful for us," Mr. Ducommun observed. "Everyone gets overwhelmed with the number of opportunities for improvement with a new facility. You have to prioritize and pick
them off one by one to keep your focus going."
In addition to making sure new hires have the right
"ingredients" - behaviors that fuel Clif Bar's unique culture - all new employees are cross-trained on multiple
pieces of equipment and various parts of the process. That
provides not only flexibility to the operation but also skills
for advancement, especially when the plant begins production on the third line early next year. "We have a full bakery
team now," Mr. Sloan said.
Overall, the plant was built with expansion in mind and
could one day reach 550,000 or even 600,000 sq ft in size,
according to Mr. Berger.
It's often said that every new bakery starts with a blank
piece of paper. Creating a masterpiece goes beyond drawing and planning. In many ways, Mr. Sloan observed, the
investment in people and process never ends. "We're setting
this up for long-term success," he explained. "We are building a bakery and a team."
That's how it's done. Bar none.

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Baking & Snack - August 2016

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