“As Kumkaya Machine, we develop our products and entire R&D activities under four different customer segments. One of these is the municipality facilities and the industrial lines that meet the need of mass-producing bread factories. The second is what we call “the middle segment” that we manufacture production line and ovens for customers that have limited space. The third segment focuses on boutique bakeries and patisseries. The fourth segment is what we call as traveling and mobile that we manufacture mostly for military and humanitarian organizations.”

Alican Kumbasar Kumkaya’s Business Development Director Interview: Mustafa YAĞMURLU

Istanbul-based Kumkaya exports more than seventy percent of its production and also boasts a significant sales margin within the local market. While exporting its products around the world, the company follows the latest innovation in the global market with its R&D activities. Producing its with “Quality, Innovation, and Efficiency” motto, the company exports its products to 111 countries. Talking with BBM Magazine, Alican Kumbasar, Kumkaya’s Business Development Director, mentioned the company’s contribution to the sector.

Mr. Kumbasar, could you please tell us about the founding story of your company? Kumkaya Machine was established thirty years ago as a service and repair company for bakery ovens and equipment, also producing spare parts for the sector. After analyzing the local industry’s existing problems with machines available in the market, our first machine, a dough divider, was manufactured. Now, Kumkaya continues its journey of innovation by manufacturing 141 different products. We manufacture our products at Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district in 20,000 square meters of closed space and have CNC lines, automatic welding robots, and laser cutting machines to carry out the production. Since 2003, integration of SAP management systems has allowed Kumkaya to become a leader in the Turkish market, marked by sales to 111 different countries. Our main priority today is to continue Kumkaya’s R&D legacy, ensuring the company’s ascension as a globally recognized brand, as well as its position as Turkey’s leading firm in the sector.

In which areas do you produce? As Kumkaya Machine, we develop our products and entire R&D activities under four different customer segments. One of these is the municipality facilities and the industrial lines that meet the need of mass-producing bread factories. The second is what we call “the middle segment” that we manufacture production line and ovens for customers that have limited space. The third segment focuses on boutique bakeries and patisseries. The fourth segment is what we call as traveling and mobile that we manufacture mostly for military and humanitarian organizations.

Could you please give us information about your industrial production lines? In order for mass-producing customers to be productive, we manufacture PLC-controlled lines that produce bread untouched by hands in order to minimize the potential for error. Customers have to load components like flour, water, yeast, etc. to their silos and take baked products into the output channel. To make everything without error in Kumkaya Machine’s industrial lines, these machines pre-calculate each detail in line with the customer’s desired product from the flour weight to dough kneading time, from dough’s resting to a cooking degree, and all machines work in synchronization with the help of PLC. The same facility can bake a loaf of bread, sandwich bread, roll bread, pitta, hamburger, and other types of breads without human involvement in a composite way. Our company manufactures the spiral mixer with mobile bowl, the lifting and tilting machine, dough divider, PLC-controlled intermediate proofer, long moulder, automatic fermentation system with pallets, tunnel ovens, spiral cooling towers, packaging machines by adding new features.

WE DEVELOPED COMPOSITE PRODUCTION IN SINGLE LINE Is there any innovation that your company contributed to the sector? A few years ago, it was not that possible to carry out a composite production in a single line with full automation at industrial facilities. However, full automatic composite facilities are now possible thanks to the automatic fermentation system with pallets that we developed and whose patent process is ongoing. Unlike its counterparts, the automatic fermentation system with pallets can ferment different types of dough that have different fermentation periods and can be used without pan or wood for fermented doughs. The machine calculates the fermentation period and place the dough to the relevant shelf; once its fermentation period is over, it transfers doughs into the oven automatically.

Remaining wastes like flour, dough, etc. can be cleaned with the cleaning system automatically. According to our customer’s needs with respect to their space limitations, our machine’s dimensions and number of layers are calculated, customized, and manufactured for maximum efficiency. Our fully automatic palletized dough fermentation machine, which has reduced the number of machines needed to produce different types of products at the same time in automatic lines to the one machine, was put into use in the first quarter of 2018 at Kayseri Municipality Kent Bread Factory.

What kind of equipment and oven do you produce for the middle segment? Since the middle segment customers do not have big spaces like industrial bakeries, they prefer machines with maximum efficiency in the unit area. At Kumkaya, we want to be able to offer these customer’s the same level of innovation and quality without sacrificing features or machine efficiency. In collaboration with our R&D department, we’ve been successful in manufacturing and customizing our industrial offerings such as spiral mixers, dough dividers, static intermediate proofers, and long moulders for our middle segment customers, offering bespoke solutions to these businesses.

4950 BREAD CAN BE PRODUCED PER HOUR Kumkaya’s fully automated ovens are used frequently in Turkey and in many countries worldwide. We manufacture automatic steam tube ovens and cyclothermic ovens that can use diesel, natural gas, LPG, electric or solid fuel for baking in order to have the maximum benefit in unit area. The automatic ovens can vary between four and eight decks. Three ovens can be used side-by-side with a single robot. All baking processes can be carried out automatically with the PLC-controlled machine without human touch. Three ovens with a single automatic loading unit can bake 4950 pieces of 250 gr bread per hour.

For bakers who do not want to bake in automatic ovens, we have developed rotary ovens in various sizes, ovens with semi-automatic loaders, ovens with manual loaders, and domed ovens. These ovens for different capacities and areas are designed to meet every demand of our bakers. These ovens have been used to bake bread and other bakery goods for millions of people around the world for years.

What types of machines do you develop for boutique and low capacity businesses? Since some customers require smaller yields, our customers such as bakeries, patisseries, supermarkets and shops, aim to produce a variety of products within a limited space. For these clients, we have developed planetary mixers, spiral mixers, dough dividers, conical rounders, intermediate proofers and long moulders with different capacities for dough production. In regards to baking, we have developed rotary ovens, convection ovens, modular deck pizza ovens, steam tube ovens and domed ovens.

DOMED OVENS PROVIDE QUALITY PRODUCT SAME AS THE BRICK OVEN Many bakeries cannot give up traditional brick ovens. People show great interest to product baked at these ovens. You developed a domed oven. Could you tell us about this oven? The domed ovens that Kumkaya Machine developed especially for traditional brick oven users can bake quality products such as baklava, bagels, pretzels, and other bread varieties traditionally baked in brick ovens thanks to the dome shaped upper-story. Due to the exhaust and general risks posed by traditional ovens, new regulations in Turkey forbid these brick ovens to operate under residential buildings. These special Kumkaya ovens can work in any buildings without any legal problem and can be moved at any place. Unlike the traditional brick ovens, harmful particles like soot and ash cannot contaminate products baked in these ovens because of indirect heat transfer regardless of fuel-type. Aesthetically, award-winning industrial designers prepared the design of our domed ovens in order to add a value to our customers.

Mr. Kumbasar, your company has been active in mobile bakeries. Could you please tell us about your activities in this area? Who uses these ovens more often? Mobile ovens developed as a result of R&D activities upon our customers’ request are used by militaries and humanitarian organizations and can bake bread under any location and circumstances like humanitarian crises and natural disasters. They can bake up to 25,000 pieces of bread per day with two employees at 14 and 28 sqm isolated containers. The mobile bakeries have machines that can carry out dough mixing, dividing, fermentation, and baking. Energy and raw material needs can be met from the generator, flour depot, fuel, and water tanks in a container. Many armies and associations use Kumkaya mobile bakeries in drills, natural disasters, and emergency situations.