How to Digitalise Batch Control in a Bakery Without Stopping Production

Digitalising traceability in an industrial bakery doesn't have to be a months-long project or require stopping the lines. This is one of the questions we are asked most often by production managers at medium-scale bakeries and food production facilities: "How do we implement it without affecting daily production?" The answer exists, and in this article we detail it with the practical approach we have applied with real clients.

The problem with paper-based batch control

In most medium-sized industrial bakeries, batch control works like this: the operator notes down on a sheet the batch of the ingredient they open, the weight they use and the time. That sheet ends up in a folder. When several lines are working simultaneously across two different shifts, the amount of paper generated is enormous. And reliability, paradoxically, is inversely proportional to the volume of paper.

The specific problems generated by paper-based control are:

Transcription errors

A batch number copied incorrectly from the bag to paper, a weight figure written down with a digit off. These errors are inevitable when the volume is high and the person is in a hurry. On paper, nobody detects them until the error is already a problem.

Broken traceability

Imagine a customer reports finding a foreign body in a product. To complete the traceability, you need to know exactly which batches of which ingredients went into that product, which mixer processed it, at what temperature it was baked and which fermentation trolley was used. On paper, reconstructing that chain can take hours — or be impossible if any record is missing.

Inability to manage recalls efficiently

Without digital traceability, when a batch needs to be recalled from the market, the company doesn't know precisely which specific products are affected. The only safe option is to recall everything produced in a wide period, including products with no problem at all. The financial and reputational cost of this is enormous.

Costly and stressful audits

Health inspections and audits from major distribution chain customers require presenting production records in an orderly and complete manner. With paper, the quality team spends days preparing that documentation before each audit.

How Trace works in practice in a bakery

EstructuraBit Trace is designed from the ground up for the industrial bread and pastry production environment. It's not an office system adapted for a factory: it's a tool built to operate on the floor, with flour, liquids, oven steam and operators with their hands occupied.

Industrial touch screens at workstations

At each workstation where information is recorded (ingredient weighing scale, trolley entry, oven exit, packaging), an industrial touch screen with sufficient IP protection for the environment is installed. The screens are large format, with big buttons and sequential workflows that guide the operator step by step. There's nothing to memorise: the system says what to do at each moment.

Barcode and batch label scanning

When a bag of flour or a bucket of butter arrives at the bakery, the operator scans the supplier's barcode or the internal warehouse label. The system automatically associates that supplier batch with all products made with it. No typing batch numbers by hand, no transcription errors.

Direct integration with scales

Trace integrates with process scales via RS-232 or RS-485 connection, which are the standard protocols for industrial scales. When the operator weighs an ingredient, the value is captured directly from the scale and recorded with no manual intervention. This eliminates transcription errors and ensures the recorded weight is the actual weight.

Trolley and tray traceability with labels or RFID

Each fermentation or transport trolley can carry a barcode label or an RFID tag. The system records what dough each trolley carries, what ingredient batches it contains and through which points on the floor it has passed. At any moment, the production manager can see on screen where each trolley is and what it's carrying.

Phased implementation: without stopping production

The key to not interrupting production during implementation lies in the phased approach. Nothing changes all at once. Start with the highest-impact, lowest-friction point, and expand the scope once the team is comfortable with the system.

Phase 1: Ingredient registration at the scale (weeks 1–2)

The first phase covers only ingredient weighing: the screen is installed next to the main scale, and operators begin digitally recording the batches they open and the weights they use. At this point, paper can coexist as a backup. The goal is for the team to become familiar with the screen without pressure.

Phase 2: Dough and trolley traceability (weeks 3–4)

Once scale registration is running smoothly, dough traceability is added: each mixing is linked to its ingredients. Trolleys start being identified with labels. In this phase the first major benefit becomes visible: the complete history of any dough produced is available in seconds.

Phase 3: Extension to ovens and packaging (weeks 5–6)

The remaining control points are added: oven times and temperatures, finished product exit, packaging data. At the end of this phase, traceability is complete from start to finish, without paper.

Phase 4: Paper elimination and advanced training

Once the system is running across all phases and the team uses it naturally, the paper is permanently retired. The quality manager receives specific training to generate audit reports and consult batch histories.

The Trigal Distribuidores case

Trigal Distribuidores is one of the clients that has implemented Trace for trolley and tray traceability control in their plant. The results are concrete and measurable: 100% of trolleys in production are traced from the moment they enter the line. The number of unidentifiable or lost batches has reached zero.

Before Trace, locating a specific trolley or knowing what dough it contained at a given moment meant asking operators, reviewing paper sheets and, in the worst case, not finding the information at all. Now it's a seconds-long query on screen.

The implementation at Trigal followed exactly the phased approach described: first ingredient registration, then trolley traceability, finally paper elimination. Production was never stopped at any point during the process.

What the bakery needs to get started

The technical requirements for implementing Trace are deliberately low, to avoid adding unnecessary complexity:

• WiFi or Ethernet network connection at workstations (or installation of access points if not available)
• Scales with RS-232 or RS-485 serial port (the vast majority of industrial scales meet this requirement)
• Space to install touch screens at workstations
• Power outlets at workstations

No dedicated server is required: the system can run in the cloud with access from any device, or on a local server if the company prefers to keep the data on its own premises. Both options are available.