Ten slices, 500 grams, zero compromises
“If the bakery were six times as big, we still wouldn't be able to meet demand.“
That is what Henk Wijma, technical advisor to Van Dijk's rye bread bakery for almost twenty years, says. The Frisian company made a remarkable decision several years ago: investing in a new line for slicing rye bread.
Author: Heidi Peters, NBT Magazine
Demand is so high that there is currently no capacity for variants such as fruit‑rye bread, Christmas rye bread or snack‑slices. Geert van Dijk, the fourth generation of the family business, remains calm: “What is not possible, is not possible – we focus on what is possible.”
For a long time, Van Dijk worked with a slicer that caused many problems: frequent downtimes and a high amount of rejects, which meant six-figure costs for the company. That made a new solution necessary. "A few years back, I came into contact with René Kamsteeg from Weber and talked to him. But he wasn't immediately convinced to supply us with a machine," says Henk Wijma.
Unorthodox decisions lead to optimal solutions
Weber is known for its solutions for the meat and cheese industry. In these industries, Weber is a renowned and established premium brand. The request from a rye bread bakery was therefore surprising.“As a company, Van Dijk does everything that is unorthodox,“ explains Henk Wijma. Geert van Dijk adds: “Our bakery uses techniques from the timber industry, agriculture and now also from the meat industry. Well, if one thing doesn't work, it has to work with something else.” To give an example, after various materials for baking pans were not satisfactory, bakers now work with titanium molds – an unusual choice. According to bakers, there doesn't even seem to be a standard machine for rye bread. “We think about solutions and develop them where other companies don't see any, and we also take care of the further development of the machines ourselves. No wonder we deliberately looked for a company like Weber,“ describes Henk Wijma. Because Weber also works in exactly this way.
René Kamsteeg, managing director of Weber Benelux BV, accepted the challenge with Van Dijk. “I first looked at the bakery to find out what was needed, and then we went to our headquarters in Germany together to conduct tests. These went very well. However, my colleagues and I were somewhat surprised that the Van Dijk family counted the slices of bread that came out of the slicer. For us at Weber, it goes without saying that what you feed to the machine also comes out. But the bakers' experience with this was very poor, which is why this aspect was particularly important to them.“ Henk laughed: “From our point of view, Weber showed a lot of courage. René said that we would get the machine for free if there were packages with more or less than ten slices of bread. This impressed us so much that we explored further opportunities for a partnership between Van Dijk and Weber.“
Necessary discard despite maximum yield
The previous machine had neither a check-weighing scale nor a correction function. This is important for legislation on the movement of goods. All of this goes without saying for Weber, but discard is also necessary, explains Henk. “The basis for the rye bread that Van Dijk Sr.'s grandfather once made is that 4.5% of the bread is returned to the production of the new bread. The crusts and end pieces, but not more than this percentage, are stored and added to the next day's batch.“ This process has a tradition and has existed as long as the Van Dijk rye bakery has existed. Naturally, this deliberately planned return of 4.5% of the bread also had to be taken into account when designing the new slicer.“ This value or requirement was a unique selling point for us that had to be realized,“ explains René Kamsteeg. “So we did the math, did tests, and finally got a result that met Van Dijk's requirements and fit into the production process.“
But that wasn't the only challenge in the project: the breads that come out of the oven are 50 cm long. The length and shape are always the same, but since it is a handmade product, the weight fluctuates. “70 to 80% of the work in the bakery is still manual,“ emphasizes Henk Wijma. The grains used throughout the year can also cause weight fluctuations. For each serving and each pack the proviso remains: there must be ten slices, which together must weigh 500 grams. Therefore, in addition to the Weber Slicer 804, a Weber weSCAN laser scanner is also part of the processing solution for Van Dijk. After manual feeding, the breads are first scanned by the weSCAN and weighed by a scale so that the exact weight of the bread is known. The slicer is then automatically loaded with the breads. Two vario grippers ensure that the products are fed independently to the shear bar and sliced individually according to their weight. This ensures that each stack consists of ten slices of rye bread with a total weight of 500 grams. The stacks are then weighed again and (currently) packed manually. In recent years, Kamsteeg and the Van Dijk family, together with consultant Henk Wijma, have developed features to further optimize the process. Henk explains: “Since our rye bread is a very special product, there are special features to consider at each step. It is not easy to simply buy a packaging machine, to name just one example.“ “At first we had a problem with the packaging machine because the old slicer sliced with oil and the Weber slicer did not. As a result, the chain of the packaging machine was no longer supplied with oil. An oil tank had to be purchased, which sprays from time to time.“
Flexibility thanks to our own blade factory
With a reference project such as Van Dijk's Roggebroodfabriek, Weber demonstrates its expertise, flexibility and quality. It's undisputed that rye bread is a complicated product. “The contamination of machines by rye bread is different from that of meat and cheese. This means that you are confronted with a type of pollution and contamination that you do not know,” explains Henk Wijma. “The blade slices through the product differently than through meat, and the deposits on the blade are also different. You have to be aware of all these factors and find the right solution for each machine. When Van Dijk wanted to slice without oil, there were consequences, and Weber was willing to think along.“ René Kamsteeg adds: “Weber is the only slicer manufacturer in the world that has its own blade factory and can develop and manufacture slicer blades to measure. The blade is the heart of every slicer. Without the right blade you're stuck. For the perfect slicing of rye bread, special blades from our own brand Durablade were developed.“
The Weber slicer solution has now been in use at Van Dijk for seven years and since then Weber machines have also been in use in two bakeries in Denmark. In other areas of the food industry, Weber is known for the robustness and stability of its machines. “We guarantee one thing: what we agree to in writing will be implemented. We stand for quality and keep our promises in this family business,“ emphasizes René Kamsteeg. Weber supplies and installs complete food production lines. Deviding (for the cheese industry) and pressing (for the bacon, raw ham and fresh meat industries), x-ray and laser scanners, slicing, automation (automatic transport and infeeding), packaging – there is a Weber solution for every step of the job.
A partnership of equals
The cooperation between Van Dijk and Weber is an example of partnership development on equal terms. “As suppliers, we must first understand the needs of the market. Henk and the Van Dijk family have made it clear what they need. We are primarily active in the meat, vegan and cheese industries where yield loss must be limited. This is also true here, but part of the product is needed for the next day of production. So slicing rye bread is something completely different. We at Weber, together with the Van Dijk family, have invested a lot of energy in this project,“ René Kamsteeg describes the project and the partnership with Van Dijk. Henk Wijma adds: “We were looking for a company that was technically capable but didn't think too big to sit down with the family. René is the managing director of Weber Benelux and I would like to speak with him, not with a salesperson. With our expertise, Geert and Henk van Dijk, René and I, we are the people who achieve the best result together.”
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