A Wisconsin Bakery faced a big problem: they were unable to keep up with demand for their delicious cream puff production! Their process relied on manual labor that included emptying bags of cream by hand into the 5 gallon buckets feeding the cream machines. Manually pouring cream into the mixers was contributing to clogged lines in the cream machines, causing additional production delays for the team.

They also discovered there would be significant cost savings to purchase cream in larger containers, however, that left them with an additional problem to solve: How could they efficiently evacuate the tote?

• Pouring was no longer a solution with the larger container
• Scooping out material was no option given product consistency and manpower

With a big St. Patrick ’s Day event approaching, they needed a better solution to bridge the gap between the large tote and cream machines.

It was clear to the Crane Engineering team the 3A certified QUANTM h30 hi-san pump would be the perfect solution to ease their transfer process, as it would be easy to install and run off the 120v power available at the event location. Even better, the pump’s simple operation required only a few minutes of basic training for the bakery team to effectively use the new technology.

QUANTM pumps have a gentle pumping action that minimizes breakdown of sensitive materials – an important aspect of food production.  The air in the cream filling and the consistency will be damaged with a rotary style pump like a rotary lobe or a centrifugal pump.  Diaphragm pumps will maintain consistency of the filling making it an ideal pump for this application.

Users can control the speed and pressure right at the pump, providing an adaptable solution to keep up with varying demand throughout the day.  Simple controls make it very easy for users to plug a pump in and be up and running.  No external VFD's, air regulators. PLC systems are required, just power up and you are able to run.

Employees needed to be able to converse in the close quarters and needed a solution that wouldn’t disrupt their operation.  Using a diaphragm pump in this application is ideal due to the nature of the material being pumped but air pumps are loud and noisy with the exhaust and muffler, plus they require a large compressed air source which many people may not have.  QUANTM solves that problem with its unique electric drive removing the need for compressed air all together.

QUANTM pumps are self-priming and have excellent suction capabilities, capable of mounting above the container material is pulled from.  Self-priming and suction are crucial in this application because the material is a thicker viscosity and other rotary pumps will not be able to prime the thick cream fillings where diaphragm pumps are able to work with the higher viscosity in a siphon feed type application.

The event was a massive success! The Bakery found they could make larger batches, enabling the team to keep up with production for the event! Since the QUANTM pump eliminated the need for manual intervention in the cream transfer process, employees were able to focus on other tasks besides emptying bags of cream.

Not only was the process easier to manage at a large volume, the end product was even improved. The QUANTM pump did not shear the heavy whipping cream, leaving a smoother finished product with fewer clogging issues in the cream machines. 

Employing an efficient solution that allowed the team to produce larger volumes of cream puffs while also reducing their input costs by purchasing cream in larger containers, the QUANTM pump will pay for itself in less than 6 months!