Now more than ever, food manufacturers are facing multiple challenges. They must adapt to market demands for varied products of consistent quality while maintaining a high level of industrial performance and facing labor shortage challenges. With more than 35 years of experience in the bakery industry, ABI's experts understand the quality challenges of bakery manufacturers and hold the answers to these challenges.
The KATANA Scoring System is a complete flexible robotic scoring solution that combines unique End of Arm Tools with a precise 3D vision system as well as optimized robotic programming for the robot’s movement, and an intuitive Human Machine Interface (HMI). All these combined create the most comprehensive scoring system available in the marketplace. Thus, the KATANA Scoring System offers industrial bakers various scoring possibilities for a wide range of products with unrivaled precision and product consistency.
“With the KATANA scoring robot, scoring is becoming more than just the practical process of avoiding unsightly bursts that could occur during baking. Bakery manufacturers can make their creativity go further and use various product patterns to personalize products and bring unique offerings to the market,“ explains Felix PANG, Robotics Customer Solution Specialist at ABI.
The KATANA scoring solution offers several benefits: accurate scoring to improve productivity, the opportunity to score a wide range of products, and a user-friendly interface for easy use that doesn’t require any special prerequisites.
More product possibilities with the new waterjet scoring tool
In order to help bakeries meet market expectations for product diversity, the KATANA scoring system now integrates the waterjet scoring tool in addition to the ultrasonic plunge and drag blade options. Each tool meets a specific product requirement: the waterjet is dedicated to end-products, like baguettes or Viennese bread, while the ultrasonic drag blade adapts to stiffer doughs or doughs with inclusions, and the plunge blade is excellent for end-products, such as pretzels or breads. More flexible than ever, the KATANA scoring solution enables the scoring of a wide range of soft products and crusty breads, guaranteeing product quality and homogeneity.
Thanks to the addition of the waterjet scoring tool to the complete KATANA scoring system, bakers can provide more personalized solutions to differentiate their offers and meet the market demand for unique products. To create the perfect customized product, scoring parameters such as cut depth, cut angle, compound angle, and plow angle can be adjusted in the software. Coupled with the articulated arm of the robot movement, the high-pressure water stream of the new waterjet scoring tool enables complex angles and scoring patterns.
To guarantee the best product quality, both the ultrasonic technology of the drag and plunge blades and the waterjet tool have minimal contact with the dough. This doesn’t introduce any additional stress to the dough, preserving as much of the product integrity as possible.