What Drives Consumers To Buy Pizzas ?

Cravings, convenience and value drive consumers to buy pizza, finds Technomic - A  report

Chicago, April 14, 2010, Business Wire – Consumers choose pizza over other meal options due to taste, ease and value. In a new study from foodservice industry consultant Technomic, 62 percent of those polled say their most recent away-from-home pizza purchase was driven by a craving, followed most closely by 25 percent reporting it was more convenient than cooking. About one fifth said price, coupons and promotions influenced the decision.

The vast majority of consumers (93 percent) eat pizza at least once a month, and the average consumer eats pizza nearly three times per month.

Consumers indicate they have been trading down when it comes to pizza by cutting back on restaurant purchases.

More consumers today are buying frozen pizza than were buying it in 2008 (81 percent compared to 74 percent).

The quality perception of frozen pizza has improved. Today, 30 percent of consumers think that frozen pizza is of equal or better quality than restaurant pizza, as compared to 15 percent two years ago.

Close to one-fifth of consumers (17 percent) say that new items influence where they buy pizza, highest among those aged 18-24 years (22 percent).

Two out of five consumers (41 percent) say they would like pizza establishments to offer healthier ingredients, examples being whole wheat crusts (42 percent), organic toppings and crusts (30 and 28 percent, respectively), and all-natural and locally-sourced ingredients (50 and 38 percent).

Limited-service pizza chains are differentiating themselves from local independents by featuring specialty and signature pizzas.

“Operators and suppliers will want to consider what they can do to elicit consumer cravings through adding new items to their menus and emphasizing them through their marketing message,” says Darren Tristano, EVP at Technomic. “Differentiation through pizzas that feature unique flavors and taste combinations that consumers cannot purchase elsewhere or make at home will likely help support this effort. Positioning pizza as a meal solution that is easy, convenient and affordable will resonate with many consumers.”

Some trends, venues and retail brands

Streamlined digital ordering: Papa John’s desktop widgets, Pizza Hut’s iHut smart phone application

Innovative specialty toppings in emerging chains: ZPizza, Pizza Fusion, Extreme Pizza

Expanded offerings in limited-service pizza chains: Pizza Hut’s Tuscani pasta, Domino’s oven-baked sandwiches

All-natural ingredients in retail and restaurants: Amy’s Kitchen, Newman’s Own, Pizza Fusion

Higher quality frozen pizza: California Pizza Kitchen, DiGiorno’s


Source : http://www.technomic.com/

Bakery Plant maintenance management system - part 2

In continuation of my earlier post on bakery plant maintenance  here  are few more elements for efficient maintenance system in medium to large bakeries .

Root Cause Analysis  (  RCA )methods

 The best method  to eliminate  frequent break downs  in plant and machinery is to adopt Root Cause Analysis method .In this method one confronts issues which causes these break down ,better known as why's  method  and finds solution to stop recurrence of  the  fault .

Few general principles of RCA method are

Root cause analysis is  done to find out the root cause of the problem and remove it to eliminate the problem once for all

There should be a systematic approach with documentary support for the fault  and corrective measures

There is always one single root cause for the failures or break down in machinery

For any event or failure to happen there would be sequence of events which  needs to be recorded for better understanding of root cause

from reactive  to proactive approach by adopting root cause analysis for break downs and failures .

  

OEE ( Overall Equipment Efficiency)

Maintenance deptt need to establish OEE of major equipments  and try  to improve upon it or discard it  performs below standard OEE defined by plant management

OEE is a term used for machinery which perform any function during production and it shows manufacturing efficiency of that particular machine

OEE =  Availability  X Performance X Quality   ( %)

Another term used for performance of  equipment is  total effective equipment efficiency  ( TEEP )

TEEP  = Loading x Availability x Quality x Performance (%)

Loading = Schedule time / Calender Time  (%)

Availability = Available time / Schedule Time (%)

Performance =Parts produced * ideal cycle time /  Available time (%)

Quality  = Good Unit produced/ Total unit produced

Change Over Plans
 Its often seen that  bakery plants production  switches from one product to other product as per the sales requirement  which requires swift change over of machines or switching on to different line . These change overs   does  effect  machine efficiency  as change over parts have to be installed trials needs to be conducted for the new product before handing over machine for production . Change overs  cannot be ruled out  as production has to be sales driven  so what best maintenance team  can do is to reduce the time and process seamless for  any change overs .

Following  steps  can be implemented for change overs

• Be aware of production plan  .Do the preparatory work for  change over during regular time
• If possible switch over to dedicated lines for each product   or having idle plant best suits for quick change over . This line can be altered for change over . 
• Keep change parts ready  at  the equipment itself with tags and marks for location and product s
• Train production people to  do the basic  change overs activity

Work shop
A small workshop could help in reducing cost and time for break downs .Workshop with units like drilling , grinding , Cutting machines can help in many ways. Overhauling and repairs can be done in these workshops Its recommended to have one or two workshop on contract for regular major repair work near to factory .

  

Service Contracts

Plant or maintenance deptt can outsource certain non critical plant and machinery maintenance to maintenance contractors or OEMS for a annual or monthly charges . This would reduce the cost of inventory and overheads .Not all equipments  are critical for production such equipments can be given to maintenance contractors on call basis .
Following equipments can be given to  service contractors

DG Set
Air compressors
Pumps
Cooling towers
Fire Hydrant and safety systems
Air conditioning ( Office )
Air conditioning ( Production /Packaging Hall )
Cold Rooms or Storage's
Fork lift
Waste Water treatment plant
Civil and building repair
Electrical repair ( Non -Plant )

Other option with maintenance deptt is to have  service contracts for  critical equipments  such as 
Printers
Metal detectors
Packing machines



Hot work Precautions and Safety

Safety precautions are to be taken during hot work  such as Gas cutting , Welding ,  Erection of heavy  equipments  and Dismantling , Electrical Jobs . These activities not only affect the person doing it but the plant at large ,hence maintenance personnel to keep extra vigil during such jobs . Maintenance personnel need to wear all protective guards against injury   such  as welding screens , goggles , gloves , ear plugs , safety belts  and  electric and fire proof shoes

   

Automated Maintenance

This concept is gradually gaining ground  as this has been successfully implemented in automobile production line . Here the person running the machine is trained in maintenance and repair  so as to eliminate the need of extra manpower for maintenance . If possible bakeries could adopt this practice for over head cost reduction strategies as well reducing delays in maintenance time.

  

Legal requirements for operations

Maintenance deptt needs to ensure that equipments and operation  adhere to local  legal and statutory requirements  such  as

 Air pollution control ( Standards for discharge of smoke )
 Water Pollution  (  Standards for waste water discharge )
 Boiler Safety
 Pressure vessels and lifting devices safety
 Hazardous waste
 Fire safety - Fire hydrant system



TPM  (Total Productive Maintenance )

For bigger bakeries plant needs to implement total productive maintenance system for better results as  operations are on large sales having more than 10- 15 lines at  one locations  would require a fool proof system for maintenance . This could be done through TPM .Methodical and systematic approach to increase production  efficiencies with less break down and maintenance.The aim of productive maintenance is  to maximize plant and equipment effectiveness to achieve the optimum life cycle cost of production equipment.


 
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