Yummy Bakery Retrofit of a Baking Plate Drive System

Long story short

A machine that has run non-stop for years eventually starts to ‘feel it’: a bit of play here, a vibration there. You notice it first in small things: a sound that changes, a machine that runs just a little less smoothly. As long as the line keeps running, the decision gets postponed. But every unexpected stoppage in a bakery costs more than time alone, because what is not baked today will not be on the shelf tomorrow. At that point, the choice is clear: replace everything, or step in with a targeted fix. At Yummy Bakery, the pancake company from the Bruges region, that was exactly the situation.

What does this mean for you?

Are you also facing the choice between a full, costly replacement and a more targeted intervention? CTRL engineering carries out targeted retrofits that extend a machine’s lifespan for a fraction of the cost of full replacement.

The challenge

After years of continuous use, the bearings of a baking plate’s drive system were badly worn, causing mechanical play and vibrations. This threatened the stability of the baking process and increased the risk of unplanned downtime, while replacing the entire machine would have been disproportionately expensive.

Our approach

CTRL engineering carried out a targeted repair of the baking plate’s drive system, with new bearings and connections that greatly reduce vibrations. The motor, gearbox, and coupling were recalculated to keep meeting all requirements, with sufficient safety margin, and everything was installed, adjusted, and tested on-site, integrated with the existing machine software.

“A targeted retrofit allowed us to restore reliability and extend the lifetime of the baking plate without replacing the entire line.”

- Anthony van Dael, Build and Integration at CTRL engineering

The result

A smooth and consistent operation of the baking plate once again, a more stable baking process with less unexpected downtime, a significantly extended lifespan of the existing installation compared to full replacement, and a clear return on investment.