Papa Murphy's
Papa Murphy's is the fifth largest pizza chain in the country and the pioneer and leader of the "take and bake" pizza segment. Papa Murphy's operates approximately 1,100 franchised and corporate-owned locations in 31 states and Canada. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company offers custom-made pizzas featuring high-quality fresh toppings generously layered on pizza dough that is made fresh each morning in each store.
Papa Murphy's has been voted "Best Pizza Chain in America" for six consecutive years by consumers nationwide and was named "Chain of the Year" by Pizza Today in 2001, 2006 and 2008.
Challenge
Papa Murphy's prepares a double batch of pizza dough in its mixers at a time, which yields up to 79 dough balls. The company had experienced occasional mechanical failures with its existing mixers and as a result wanted to upgrade its existing mixers for all new stores and replace the old mixers (approximately 1,000 in total) with more durable and reliable models as needed.
Solution
Objectives:
- Increase pizza dough yield, decrease waste and have a more consistent product.
- Increase pizza dough yield, decrease waste and have a more consistent product.
- Hobart Products Involved: Hobart's 60-quart Legacy® Mixer is the foodservice industry's leader for durability, ergonomics and labor efficiencies. Hobart's Legacy Mixer represents the most significant design change in mixers in the last 50 years.
Actions Taken:
- Papa Murphy's is replacing its previous mixers with 60-quart Legacy Mixers because they are more durable and reliable.
- Papa Murphy's began upgrading to the Hobart 60-quart Legacy Mixer when the mixer was introduced in 2003. Today, the company specifies Hobart Legacy Mixers in its equipment standards manual.
Results
- Increase yield: The Legacy Mixer's power bowl lift feature ensures the bowl is raised and locked into the correct position. Papa Murphy's previous mixers used manual crank-up bowls, which could "lower" during operation because of vibration. As the bowl lowered slightly, ingredients at the bottom of the bowl were not being thoroughly mixed and became dry. This dry part of the dough would need to be cut off and discarded.
- Decrease waste: The Legacy Mixer's SmartPlus™ programmable recipe timer is easier to set and much more accurate than the spring timer on its previous mixer. Spring timers often get flour in the mechanism and can wear out over time. If the spring timer on Papa Murphy's previous mixer was inaccurate, employees didn't know how long dough was being mixed. If it was mixed for more than 10 minutes, the dough could become over-kneaded and would have to be discarded. Additionally, the Legacy's audible alarm alerts employees when the mixing is completed. If dough is left in the bowl too long after a mixing cycle, it will begin to rise rapidly, resulting in a shortened shelf life. It takes only about 10 minutes to reach the point where the dough is unusable.
- Save costs: Papa Murphy's also uses the Legacy Mixer to shred cheese for its pizzas. Prior to installing the Legacy Mixer, Papa Murphy's specified a cheese shredder, which took up additional floor space. Now employees use the Legacy Mixer's shred plate attachment to shred cheese, eliminating the need to purchase a second piece of equipment or install additional power receptacles. Because the Legacy Mixers are more powerful than the previous mixers, Papa Murphy's has had fewer service calls for maintenance, which has further reduced costs.
- Reduce operator error: Using the previous mixers, employees could accidentally install the bowl backward, causing it to fall off during operation. The Legacy Mixer's bowl can only be installed in the correct position, elim- inating the possibility of the bowl inadvertently becoming detached.
- Quieter work environment: The Legacy Mixer is extremely quiet, which is important if employees are taking orders via a nearby telephone or if meetings or interviews are
being conducted in the vicinity of the mixer. With its previous mixer, Papa Murphy's employees could use the telephone only in the office, because the clanking of the mixer made it impossible to hear customer orders on the kitchen phone.
"We are very hard on these machines and they perform flawlessly.
Hobart mixers are as reliable as they come."
—Al Randazzo
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