Tsubaki conveyor chain leads
to long term cost savings and
efficiency for commercial bakery
Producing high quality, consistent
baked goods in a batch production
requires precise and reliable processes
and equipment. For one bakery, the
industrial oven it used for producing
pre-baked bread rolls required new
conveyor chain every two years due to
excessive wear. This was an expensive
and time-consuming operation that
affected the bakery’s production
targets. Fortunately, Tsubaki’s expert
engineers were able to recommend a
specialised chain product that more
than doubled service life.
Almost every village in France still has
its own boulangerie, a bakery handed
down through the generations of a
family of master craftsmen. Today,
their bakers combine tradition with
Photo Caption: Tsubaki suggested that the bakery lubricate the chain with a specialty
food-grade lubrication formulated to be stable in very high temperatures. (Image Source:
iStock -SHODOgraphy: ID:960011886)
technology to ensure the very best end Tsubaki was contacted and its engineers food-grade lubrication formulated to
products. were soon on site to assess the be stable in very high temperatures.
application. The average temperatures This is dispensed through an
In bigger towns, larger scale bakeries experienced by the chain throughout electrically operated gear pump, that is
also apply high standards as they work the oven cycle was 240°C (peaking at synchronised with the speed of the chain
to supply supermarkets across their 300°C), which was causing the inside of to ensure that an optimised coating is
region. They won’t sacrifice quality, the rollers to wear and the chain to fail always maintained.
so rely on technical solutions with earlier than expected. Tsubaki identified their plant, equipment and processes that chain designed for operation in hard With the new chain installed and the
to achieve the efficiency and cost wearing environments, combined with updated lubrication system in operation
management they require. a specialised lubrication system, could it wasn’t long until the bakery’s
significantly extend the gap between maintenance staff started to notice
One bakery decided to review its replacement and reduce the Total Cost of the difference in performance. Where
costs and procedures to ensure that Ownership of the oven at the same time. the chain would usually start to show
signs of wear in a few months, the new
its production line was performing
to the highest standards. It quickly The engineers recommended an chain was visibly harder wearing than
identified that the tunnel oven used engineered solution from its large size the incumbent. In fact, the chain proved
to produce pre-baked bread rolls conveyor chain catalogue that featured to offer more than twice the reliability
was requiring a shut-down period for heat treated rollers and bushes to – eventually reaching a service life of
replacement conveyor chain every 1.5 ensure smooth interaction, even at over five years. The resulting reduction
to 2 years. The replacement process high temperatures. The chain has been in periods of non-production has been
required a complete de-mount of the built for strength and performance a significant benefit to the Total Cost of
machine, which resulted in expensive to cope with regular loading and Ownership of the chain, which reflects
maintenance bills. The question that delivers stable performance. In this directly onto the bakery’s bottom line.
inevitably arose was: “Can we improve case it was suggested that the bakery the service life of the chain?” lubricate the chain with a specialty
www.tsubaki.eu
FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk 27