The new laminator’s design is easier to clean, with less tooling needed, as well as more efficient and more sustainable than past generations from AMF, Besems says. “We’re designing our machines with methods of working toward sustainable and easy-to-use equipment as much as possible,” he says. “We’ve redesigned it for more open frame, which means better hygiene. Belt cleaning and belt drying is much easier. The flour dusters can be cleaned more easily and more often. We also improved the flour system for more efficient ‘flouring’ because sustainability is one of our strategic goals. This new system can use 20 percent to 30 percent less flour to get the same results, in keeping the dough from sticking to the belts.”
Moline says his company produces a broad range of custom laminators and sheeters. “Depending on the requirements of the line, we’ve been doing a lot of extreme-washdown environment laminating and sheeting systems, specifically for USDA bakeries,” he says. “Meat and egg fillings are becoming more commonplace for sheeting applications. Pocket-style products, like calzones, or breakfast-type products, is an area we’ve been doing a lot in sheeting.”
The company also has made advancements in automated dough-sheet tension monitoring systems, Moline says. “The demands of bakers are for wider and faster systems, where if you have problems on a sheeting line, it’s difficult for a single operator to manage that, especially on laminating system, where dough-sheet monitoring comes in handy. Our systems make subtle adjustments on the fly to prevent bunching, tearing or anything else related to dough inconsistency.”