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CASE STUDY
A leading national commercial bakery was coating crackers with spinning disc applicators — and paying for it in uneven browning, high scrap rates, oil on the production floor, and a cleaning crew after every shift. Spraymation engineered a fully automated spray coating system to the bakery’s exact line specifications and product mix. The result: 100% coating consistency, coating waste and its associated shipping costs cut in half, and line throughput up 25% — with the system paying for itself in under a year.
Results at a glance
Reduction in coating waste & shipping costs
Increase in line throughput
Payback period
Coating consistency
Project Overview
Industry
Commercial Baking & Food Processing
Application
Pre-Seasoning Oil Coating
Product
Crackers
Coating
Vegetable Oil
On a high-speed cracker line, the pre-bake oil application does a lot of work at once: it drives uniform browning and texture, provides the adhesion layer for seasoning, and defines the product’s visual appeal. The bakery was applying that oil with a spinning disc method across multiple production lines — and the technology was creating compounding issues:
[01]
Coating thickness varied across the web, producing uneven browning — some product over-browned while other product appeared pale and undercooked.
[02]
Over- and under-application drove significant rejection at quality inspection, inflating waste and raw material costs.
[03]
Excess oil from the spinning disc leaked through the conveyor belt area onto the floor — a sanitary problem and an employee slip hazard.
[04]
A cleaning team was required at every coating station after every shift, adding labor and cleaning material costs to the process.
[05]
Without precision spray control, wasted oil — and the shipping and handling costs that came with buying it — was simply part of the cost of production.
Spraymation engineered a fully automated spray coating system designed to the bakery’s exact line specifications and product mix.
Custom spray headers and nozzle arrays. Engineered-to-order headers with proper filtration, designed to the bakery’s conveyor width and product spacing.
Precision spray controller. The system automatically starts and stops spraying based on whether crackers are in the spray zone — no product, no spray, no waste.
Heated fluid delivery system. A temperature-controlled fluid supply with inline heating maintains consistent viscosity from tank to nozzle — critical for uniform coating and for preventing nozzle clogging during extended runs.
Stainless steel, food-grade construction. All wetted components are FDA/USDA compliant and designed for full washdown, meeting the bakery’s sanitation and food safety requirements.
Spraymation’s engineering team conducted on-site analysis of the bakery’s production lines — conveyor speed profiles, product geometry, and coating specifications — then performed fluid testing to characterize the coating’s behavior. The resulting system was engineered, assembled, and factory-tested at Spraymation’s Fort Lauderdale facility before shipment, so commissioning and startup were completed within a single planned maintenance window.
The Results
The automated system transformed the coating process across the bakery’s lines. Precision spray control delivered 100% coating consistency — even coverage and uniform browning on every run, ending the over-browned/under-baked variation that had been driving scrap. With oil applied only where and when product is present, coating waste and its associated shipping costs fell by 50%. The floor-oil problem disappeared along with the per-shift cleaning crew, removing both the slip hazard and the recurring labor cost. And with less scrap, less cleanup, and more consistent operation, line throughput increased 25% — capacity gained without new ovens or conveyors. The system delivered full payback in under one year.
Get Started
If a spinning disc, drip, or curtain method is costing you scrap, cleanup labor, and floor-safety headaches, Spraymation can engineer a food-grade spray system to your exact lines — and test it with your product before it ships.
Case Study CS-2026-TC-001 | © Spraymation Holdings Inc. 2026 | ISO 9001:2015 Certified