The most efficient bread machine is really simple...and cheap

Occasionally I get email newsletters from the baking industry. Little of what I see there is relevant to my little bakery; but occasionally I will follow some links to see what's going on out there. This article had me laughing so hard I was forced to stop myself from laughing because I wasn't getting enough air. It's certainly not meant to be funny; but it's so utterly incomprehensible, even to me as a baker, that I forgot I was reading about a bread machine. Here is a taste:

Pan bread systems have evolved in the last few years to use extrusion on a wider variety of products. “By using multiple metering pumps on the ADD Divider, AMF has been able to increase extrusion line speeds while reducing the work on the dough,” says Larry Gore, AMF Automation Technologies, Richmond, Va. “This has broadened the range of bread styles that can be made using extrusion, and further reduced the cost of production by increasing scaling accuracy and minimizing maintenance.” For those breads that still require volumetric dividing, AMF's new servotech divider and Cycone rounder package uses precise feedback from the servo controls on the ram and knife to accurately scale with minimal pressure.

In other words, they are trying to get their robotic machines to be gentle on the dough and actually scale the dough accurately; without beating up the pans so much they have to be replaced constantly. You know .... trying to replicate the most efficient and effective machine for making bread: Hands!!!

And ... oh yeah ... we could actually hire people with hands to make it.