Case Study: Southwest Baking Company achieves greater production efficiency with Rockwell Automation

Southwest Baking Batch System Upgrade Expands Process Flexibility

Southwest Baking Company, a Tolleson, Arizona bakery producing more than 2 million cases of bread annually, was limited by an outdated proprietary batch system that lacked flexibility, scalability, and reliable reporting. The system ran only one batch every eight minutes, caused frequent downtime, and made it difficult for operators to manage recipes and process changes efficiently. Southwest Baking worked with Rockwell Automation and its PartnerNetwork ecosystem, using FactoryTalk Batch as part of the upgrade.

Rockwell Automation helped Southwest Baking implement a flexible batch recipe management solution with FactoryTalk Batch, ControlLogix controllers, an advanced HMI, and a process historian. The new system improved operator visibility and reporting, enabled faster troubleshooting, and supported long-term growth. As a result, Southwest Baking increased bread production by 5%, cut batch cycle time by 22%, reduced downtime from hours to minutes, and achieved ROI in one year.

Southwest Baking Company

Robert Wroblewski

Plant Engineer