Product category:
Measurement and Quality Software and SPC
News Release from: ASI DataMyte | Subject: DataMyte Quantum
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 06 July 2004
ASI Datamyte Helps East Balt Win Award
Datamyte Quantum software which monitors quantitative processes at East Balt Commissary has enbled the company to win Food Quality magazine's 2004 award.
Food Quality magazine has announced this year's Food Quality Award recipient as East Balt Commissary of Chicago Commissary-dedicated supplier of bread products to 900 McDonald's restaurants in five states-is one of 16 East Balt bakeries on four continents with 1,100 employees
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 24 Jun 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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President and COO John Petenes says that at both McDonald's and East Balt "consistency is always the goal.
Whether you're in Chicago or around the world, the thought process-and expectation-are always the same." No wonder the two companies have the same philosophy: Louis Kuchuris, East Balt's founder, and Ray Kroc came up together.
One day in 1955, as Kroc, then McDonald's franchising agent, was overseeing the paving of the parking lot of his own, first, McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, IL, Kuchuris drove by to see what was happening.
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Kuchuris was a baker; Kroc was going to need buns for his burgers-and a lot of them.
The men became instant friends, and on a handshake, agreed Kuchuris would be Kroc's supplier.
What makes a company want to be the best? So good that a 50-year-old handshake is the only contract McDonald's and East Balt has? Kroc viewed McDonald's as a three-legged stool comprised of supplier, the restaurants and the corporation, all part of one team.
Always the perfectionist, Kroc demanded the best from his suppliers; Kuchuris couldn't imagine giving anything less.
That's how East Balt is run today.
Petenes says "The obsession with quality is shared at all levels of the company." Louise Kuchuris, quality systems manager and granddaughter of Louis jokes, "[CEO] Frank [Kuchuris] and John are the live ghosts of Louis coming down to the plant." "We take business very seriously; so do the people who work for us," says Petenes.
"We think the same way as our demanding customer.
McDonald's offers the best quality you'll ever see, and a lot of work goes into it." "And here, there's no compromise on quality," adds Dave McGuire, vice president of quality management.
"We always expect the best." There's no doubt about what "the best" means: McDonald's has set specific product parameters for the ideal bun.
Each measurement is monitored by a worker on the line who is responsible for that aspect of the operation.
Placing "restrictions" on product and process means there is only one right answer.
Louise Kuchuris says, "If the parameters can be met, there's nothing to do but to do it!" Meeting Criteria Software plays an important role in the Commissary operation.
The quantitative processes are monitored by DataMyte Quantum (ASI DataMyte, Plymouth, MN); the SPC watches equipment that measures every step in the process-times, temperatures, weights and speed.
Product parameters such as color, height and diameter are optically scanned by Dipix Technologies (Ottawa) Qualivision.
Both systems can be watched on screen from the production floor.
Tracking-day-to-day or plant-to-plant-allows anticipation.
Quality Systems Manager Brian Summ says, "We track raw materials to finished sandwiches.
We can look backwards to delivery, purchasing, production and ingredients." The data provides useful, actionable information and removes subjectivity.
McGuire adds, "We have a 95% confidence level in our SPC efforts and can make decisions based on data, like when to repair or replace equipment, and size and frequency of product sampling." Baked goods are not inherently high-risk products, so minimal testing is done.
Air quality is tested; spoilage organisms are the most significant micro concern.
Not that the buns get a chance to spoil.
On average, between the time a bun is packaged and becomes a component of a hamburger in a McDonald's bag passing across the counter, just 4.3 days have gone by.
But, you can't use a machine for every quality parameter.
Commissary recognizes the need for human intervention in validation, too.
Sensory data is loaded into a Palm PDA after plant employees and field service personnel evaluate the product using all five senses.
"Sometimes six or seven," jokes Petenes.
Their extra senses are so keen, in fact, that Petenes and Frank Kuchuris, after 30 years of collaboration, rarely need to speak to understand each other.
Keep on Your Toes There's a Twilight Zone episode in which a man is gambling in a bar; attractive women surround him.
After winning too many consecutive games of black jack, the man becomes frustrated: Winning all the time is boring.
"What is this place?" he grumbles.
The bartender informs him, "This is hell." Upon hearing this story during a conference call, Petenes, Louise Kuchuris, Chief Engineer Fred Robin, McGuire and Summ chuckled and admitted operations don't always run that smoothly.
Seasonal variations in flour-the main ingredient-poses a significant challenge.
Suppliers are given parameters.
East Balt bakeries in other countries ask suppliers to mill flour to behave the way furnished American samples do.
Close relationships with suppliers helps maintain tight ingredient attribute specifications.
Petenes adds, "Because what starts at the farm ends up in the bag." He sees consistency as the biggest challenge every day.
"But training keeps everyone on their toes.
We keep employees interested." McGuire enumerates the constant demands on the plants.
"We're dealing with a partner; we want to improve consistency, yield, performance of the process and of the product.
It's already an exciting environment.
Then throw in things like weather and 9-11." Think about how a humid, 100-degree day affects production: Ambient, proofing and fermentation temperature and relative humidity must be monitored carefully, flour moisture content can vary, employees might get testy.
The threat of terrorism has receiving looking at orders more critically; there are more locks on strainers with fewer keys, awarded to authorized personnel only after increased training.
Robin points out that to keep equipment in line, "we have to measure the quality of the machines with daily verification.
Lenses get dirty, equipment gets out of calibration.
And it's not just the engineers; everyone gets involved.
That's what keeps us on the cutting edge." Daily analysis of data on the East Balt intranet and cooperation of suppliers that manufacture equipment makes the company a pioneer.
Petenes says he always asks, "How can we be better? If we see a technology, and it's good and adaptable, we'll grab it," whether it's best practices shared by QA managers at each location or a mandated change from the customer.
A few years ago, when McDonald's implemented a change in kitchen systems, the bakery had to adapt equipment, which can now measure tolerances within one-tenth of a millimeter.
No, the parameters aren't that exact, but because of McDonald's expectations, East Balt can go in that direction.
The company that operates 24 hours a day, six days a week, making 7,600 dozen buns an hour, with only one or two customer complaints a week and a 96% production efficiency seem close enough.
The Bakers Quality Seal In April 2001, the American Institute of Baking, Manhattan, KS, approached East Balt.
As their auditor, AIB knew Commissary was operating at a high level.
So Jerry Mithen at AIB asked if the bakery was ready to try for the Bakers Quality Seal.
The Bakers Quality Seal tells customers that products meet strict food safety criteria, quality standards and customer specifications.
Louise Kuchuris was appointed team leader; she was the tough task master who got everyone involved throughout the 13 months of preparation.
"It was a great learning process, and a great tool to unify all of our bakeries.
The team effort between us and AIB was a challenge.
We weren't awarded the BQS because we changed; the award proved that what we were doing all along was right." Petenes adds, "The BQS did not alter our thinking; we refined our thinking.
The BQS doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels.
We're already reviewing the process for recertification.
AIB could walk in next week.
We have to be ready every day." "AIB validated our quality system," says Robin.
"For a chief engineer, I sure learned a lot about baking." In fact, everyone in the company considers himself a baker.
Many people don't realize baking is not just an art.
Louise Kuchuris says when she used to tell friends her father, Frank, is a baker, they imagined an eccentric white-clad artiste with flour all over his hands and face.
But baking is also a science.
Because of science and technology, East Balt has become more precise.
Ready for Anything East Balt goes beyond doing what's necessary.
The company seems to be prepared for any eventuality.
Even though the only allergens in East Balt buns is second-tier-sesame seeds are only considered sensitive ingredients-the company can accommodate the introduction of one of seven acknowledged allergens-nuts or milk, for example.
A color-coding system and a plan to separate those ingredients are in place.
The company is always ready for annual-almost uneventful-FDA inspection, and since Commissary so values the BQS process, the Florida and Denver plants are preparing for BQA certification.
Petenes thinks Kroc made a lot of sense when he said, "Never look back when leading the race; you will slow your pace and the competition will close the gap." Choosing East Balt Commissary as the recipient of the Food Quality Award makes a lot of sense, too. Request a free brochure from ASI DataMyte ...
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