Client: Baijiayi Food | Location: China | Equipment: Multi-Zone Linear Continuous Tunnel Oven | Application: Packaged Soft Bread Rolls & Pastries
Customer Background & Operational Challenge
Baijiayi Food is a large-scale commercial bakery processor specializing in packaged soft bread rolls, scored milk loaves, and sweet filled pastries for regional retail distribution. As production volumes scaled, relying on batch rack ovens resulted in high manual rack-loading labor, door-opening heat losses, and noticeable batch-to-batch variations in crust color and internal crumb moisture.
Baijiayi sought to upgrade to a fully automated, straight-line continuous baking tunnel that could convey baking pans smoothly from proofing through baking and cooling while locking in a soft, moist crumb structure for extended retail shelf life.
Square Technology Solution: Linear Continuous Tunnel Oven
Square Technology engineered and installed a multi-zone linear continuous tunnel oven equipped with a synchronized double-chain pan conveyor system designed for molded bread pans and pastry trays.
- Precision Zone Temperature & Damper Control: Separate top and bottom heat exchangers and moisture exhaust dampers across each modular baking zone allow precise control over dough expansion, score opening, and Maillard browning—producing uniform golden-brown loaves across every row of the pan.
- Smooth Double-Chain Pan Conveying: Variable-frequency drive (VFD) traction maintains steady, jerk-free pan transport through the tunnel, adjustable from 5 to 30 minutes of baking dwell time to accommodate different loaf weights and pastry formulations.
- High-Density Insulation & Combustion Safety: Constructed with high-temperature thermal insulation to minimize radiant heat loss into the bakery hall, the oven incorporates real-time gas detection interlocks and floating pressure-relief roof panels.
- Automated PLC Recipe Management: Operators switch between bread and pastry SKUs via preset PLC touchscreen recipes that automatically regulate zone temperatures, exhaust dampers, and conveyor speed.
Operational Results
By transitioning to Square Technology’s continuous tunnel oven, Baijiayi Food eliminated manual rack handling, achieved highly uniform crust color and loaf symmetry across continuous shifts, and improved moisture retention for packaged retail bakery products.
