Bolletje, together with QING, prepares for the future

Bolletje, founded in 1867 and famous for their rusks, has become one of the best-known brands in the Netherlands. Lo Huls joins Bolletje as COO of the Almelo and Heerde locations. Huls' mission is to make the company future-ready."Even companies like Bolletje need to transform technologically to have a secure future," Huls begins. 

Securing knowledge in technology 

There are a number of key issues that require attention, such as staff shortages. "New staff is hard to get. That's why we have to start thinking in solutions. Technology and automation are going to play a big role," says Huls. "People's wishes and requirements for their work have changed a lot. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get sufficient capacity for certain functions. We can only cope with this by automating." 

Bolletje notices that the personnel shortage is slowly becoming a permanent trend. "Not only capacity but also technically qualified personnel are decreasing. Knowledge and skills must not be lost; we want to secure this in technology." Lo sees the traditional way of transferring knowledge slowly disappearing. "Previously, a machine specialist would take a school leaver under his wing for a time to learn the trade; this slowly formed a father-son relationship. These situations are now rare." 

Daring to make decisions with new insights  

The second topic of concern to the bakery manufacturer is structural maintenance. Bolletje wants to move to a new way of working; planned maintenance. A planning tool should ensure that planned maintenance is integrated into the organization of production. "We have neglected structural maintenance and as a result have little insight into our systems, this is a missed opportunity," he said. 

Gaining control and insight into both the process and the product only succeeds by collecting the right data. This is also going to help Bolletje pursue more stable production and personnel planning. All the innovations they want to apply are focused on quality, efficiency and the future. Bolletje no longer wants to wait and see; they want to move to a continuous process of control and improvement.  

Artificial Intelligence is going to be a part of the innovation journey. This will allow Bolletje to collect and use data to gain more control over the processes. With the integrated AI application , quality is monitored. Valuable data about defects is fed back and the defects are then removed from the production line through robotization. "Previously, we waited until a machine part stopped working and went to replace it. With AI and data, we get insights and can intervene in time. Our mindset in this has to change. From knowledge we dare to make decisions." 

The bigger picture 

The challenges raised by Huls make the situation complex and touch all disciplines within the company. "New adjustments have to fit into the bigger picture. For this, we were looking for a partner with whom we dare to make plans. QING is the suitable party for us." QING and Bolletje are working out the future plans step by step. "QING's approach is going to provide a clear direction here. Now we still do everything ad-hoc, we have to get rid of that." 

"We asked QING to support us in this. QING has a lot of experience in systems engineering for production environments from home. This experience is complemented by great knowledge of technological innovation, applying automation and AI applications." The first innovation session with both companies is planned. Bolletje's entire team will be involved in this process. "Automation is something we all do together, ideas need to be understood to make it a success," Huls adds.

Q-Sort system

What began as an innovation project has now become a reality: the Q-Sort System, an AI-driven sorting system. The machine inspects the rusks and automatically removes the “defective” ones from the production line.

The machine is built on our AI platform STAQ®, which stands for See, Think, Act —translating human decision-making into technology. In addition to detecting and sorting out defective rusks, the system uses STAQ® to identify the root causes. These insights provide Bolletje with valuable data to further optimize their production process.

Results at a glance:

• Inspection of 1,200 rusks per minute
• Consistent quality control unaffected by fatigue or variations in working methods
• Valuable production data for further process optimization
• Sorting 80 rusks per minute
• Specially designed needle gripper for picking up rusks
• A compact system integrated into one of Bolletje’s rusk production lines, which can be relocated if desired.

Without collaboration, a difficult future 

Finally, Lo Huls talks about how he sees the future of the food industry. "Future-proofing your production is important to maintain your right to exist. Besides not enough staff, new laws and regulations are making the food industry incredibly difficult. Small businesses face an even bigger challenge."  

"Automations are now necessary and that costs a lot of money. The food industry must start working together, otherwise it will be a difficult future. Share and exchange technical knowledge and expertise with each other. We must complement each other and be open to change." 

‍Writtenby: Merle de Grey