Bakisto Takes Aim at Food Waste

FANUC, oven manufacturer WIESHEU and retail specialist Wanzl have developed the automated "Bakisto" collaborative robot system through a partnership. Bakisto performs key operational steps including tray loading, tray positioning in the oven, removal from the oven and display stocking, and thanks to its artificial intelligence, also plays a key role in combating food waste. The cobot calculates how much bread, croissants and pastry products will be demanded during the day, then prepares the baked goods and removes them from the oven at the right time. Although originating in industry, robots are now being used in laundries, farms and fields, and are beginning to take on duties in bakeries and pastry shops. Japanese automation giant FANUC, oven manufacturer WIESHEU and retail specialist Wanzl have joined forces against food waste levels rising alongside growing global population, developing the automated collaborative robot Bakisto. Bringing higher reliability to the baking process in supermarkets and pastry shops where ovens are located, Bakisto reduces food waste through its efficiency gains.

Employee workload is reduced

Teoman Alper Yiğit, General Manager of FANUC Turkey, noted that rising skilled labour shortages outside the manufacturing sector have increased interest in robots, and continued: "Robots have provided tangible relief in sectors such as retail or commerce, where there has traditionally been a practice of performing work steps manually. Bakisto, which we have developed, will benefit employees in many ways when incorporated into the baking environment, including more attractive working hours. When properly programmed, it can start baking on its own in the early morning hours, allowing employees to sleep longer and increasing their efficiency and motivation throughout the day."

Preventing food waste with AI-enabled system

Yiğit, pointing out that the developed cobot assists businesses in combating food waste in addition to efficiency gains, concluded his remarks as follows: "Bakisto uses artificial intelligence to calculate how much bread, croissants and pastry products will be demanded during the day, then prepares the baked goods and removes them from the oven at the right time. Comprising three interconnected systems, Bakisto uses artificial intelligence to predict based on historical data and current inventory the daily quantity requirements for baked goods and when the most intensive baking process needs to be performed to meet demand. After this information is entered into the system, the cobot retrieves oven trays loaded with frozen baked goods from the cooling unit and pushes them onto a transport trolley that moves along rails in front of the pre-heated oven. The TrayMotion loading system then draws the loaded trays inside to begin the baking process. After baking, the system pushes the oven trays back onto a transport trolley that moves to the side, allowing the baked products to cool while also creating space for the next batch. The cobot then fills the pre-defined compartments of BakeOff with finished and cooled baked goods. The artificial intelligence component continuously optimizes the process of transferring new data."