“The aim of plug & play ovens is to speed up the installation process, in order to reduce production downtime at the customer facility” says Mario Da Ros - Senior Director Project Management. “Pre-assembled ovens are a great way to ensure a high-quality installation phase of our ovens, given that it is mainly carried out at our own facility” he continues.
To better understand what the advantages of pre-assembled oven modules are, let’s take into consideration the installation of a 65 m long oven with a width of 1.2 m. Considering that there are many factors in place such as conveyor belt, fuel and heating system used, a good estimation of the time needed to install the disassembled oven is around 45 days. On the other hand, with the Plug-and-Play option it is possible to reduce the installation up to 20 days. This example concerns the mechanical assembling as well as the electrical connections, while the commissioning phase is not included in this count.
Gianluca Dolci - Senior Director Project Execution gives some insights on what the advantages in terms of time management are with a recent oversea customer case: “In December we shipped a 124 m long oven to Indonesia, with a 1.6m width. We managed to display all 58 modules in five days, which means that the electricians could start working simultaneously with the mechanics on the oven, a huge advantage that guarantees a quicker installation”.
Advantages.
The preassembled modules not only streamline the installation process but also substantially reduce production downtime for customers. The time-efficient nature of Plug&Play ovens is exemplified by the remarkable reduction in installation time, as illustrated by the example of a 65-meter oven installation decreasing from an estimated 45 days to just 20 days. This time-saving advantage extends to electrical operations, as demonstrated by the rapid assembly of a 124-meter oven in Indonesia in just five days.
With plug & play ovens, the cost of manpower is significantly reduced: the total number of people that work on the line is reduced, both for mechanics and electricians, but most importantly the need of highly specialized personnel is not fundamental anymore, because the most complex operations are carried out during the in-house pre-assembly of the modules.
By installing Plug-and-Play ovens, the baker does not manage rock wool to insulate the baking chamber anymore. This is a very important aspect in terms of safety for the operators, but it also guarantees less costs for the producers because the workers need less personal protection equipment. In addition, the lack of rock wool management allows not to partition the production environment to avoid the risk of contamination with other production lines that are running during the installation process.
Gianluca Dolci
Senior Director Project Execution
Ask the GEA Expert
We are close to our customers. If you want to discover the full potential of the new Plug&Play system and understand how this new solution can fit into your project, GEA experts will always be at your side to design the winning solution together with you.