How Can One Production Line Manufacture Multiple Types of Donuts?
From Single-Product Manufacturing to Multi-Product Production: New Demands for Industrial Bakery Lines
In the past, industrial bakeries focused primarily on equipment capacity for individual products. As market demand continues to evolve, donuts are expanding beyond traditional formats into a wider range of flavors, shapes, and product variations. For food manufacturers, the key challenge is how to maintain high production efficiency while quickly adapting their product mix.
To meet the customer's demand for multiple donut varieties, Yufeng developed a customized fully automatic donut production line integrating key processes including dough forming, frying, filling, chocolate coating, and cooling. The complete system enables continuous production from dough processing to finished products.
The project adopts the DPL-6C Automatic Cake Donut Production Line, systematically designed around the customer's product range and production targets to provide a more flexible industrial donut manufacturing solution.
Customer Requirements: One Production Line for Multiple Donut Varieties
The customer needed to manufacture several types of donuts, including traditional ring donuts, mini donuts, and ball-shaped donuts.
These products differ in size, weight, forming method, and downstream processing requirements. Using separate conventional equipment for each product would require frequent process adjustments while increasing equipment investment and production management complexity.
The customer therefore sought an automated production system capable of producing multiple donut varieties on the same line, while maintaining consistent product quality and high production efficiency.
Based on the requirements of different products, the production line supports continuous manufacturing of donuts in multiple sizes and formats. Production capacity can reach approximately 4,000 pcs/h for ring donuts, 11,000 pcs/h for mini donuts, and up to 12,934 pcs/h for ball-shaped donuts.
Automated Frying System: Consistent Quality for High-Volume Production
Frying is one of the critical processes in donut production. Frying temperature, processing time, and product turning all have a direct impact on the final color, texture, and eating quality.
To meet the processing requirements of different donut varieties, the system integrates an automatic frying system consisting of an electrically heated fryer, automatic turning mechanism, edible oil filtration system, and automatic lifting unit. This integrated configuration enables precise control throughout continuous production.
Frying parameters can be adjusted according to different product requirements. The system supports adjustable frying times ranging from 73 to 103 seconds, helping maintain consistent processing results across different product sizes and formats.
Automatic Filling System: Efficient Filling for Filled Donuts
As consumers increasingly seek greater variety in dessert flavors, filled donuts have become an important product category in the market.
To meet the customer's requirements for fillings such as jam and cream, Yufeng equipped the production line with an automatic filling system for precise and consistent filling.
The system uses multi-nozzle synchronized filling technology, with adjustable filling volumes according to product requirements. This helps maintain consistent filling levels, internal structure, and eating quality from batch to batch. Automated filling also reduces manual intervention and improves continuous production efficiency, making it well suited for industrial donut manufacturing.
Chocolate Coating System: Enhancing Product Appeal and Value
For modern bakery products, visual presentation has become an important factor influencing consumer choice.
To support the development of premium donut products, the production line is equipped with an automatic chocolate coating system capable of creating a variety of surface finishes.
The system supports four-color chocolate coating and syrup glazing, as well as bottom coating and full-surface enrobing. This gives manufacturers greater flexibility to develop visually distinctive donut products.
With a PLC-based touchscreen control system, operating parameters can be adjusted according to production requirements, improving coating consistency and ease of operation.
Multi-Level Cooling System: Optimizing Space and Production Flow
After frying and coating, donuts need to be cooled under controlled conditions to stabilize their appearance and product quality.
To maximize the use of production space, the solution adopts a multi-level cooling tunnel. Its vertical configuration reduces the equipment footprint while improving cooling efficiency.
The cooling system features a food-grade stainless-steel structure and controlled, evenly distributed airflow to ensure consistent cooling as products move continuously through the system, providing stable conditions for subsequent packaging operations.
From Equipment Supply to Complete Manufacturing Solutions
For food manufacturers, the value of a production line is not only measured by increased output, but also by its ability to help manufacturers respond to changing market demands.
Through flexible line design, multi-product compatibility, and automated process control, this donut production solution optimizes the overall manufacturing process, from product processing to production management.
With a quick-changeover design, a single production system can support multiple donut varieties, reducing equipment investment while improving overall line utilization.
As the food industry continues to move toward automation and digitalization, food equipment manufacturers are increasingly shifting from traditional equipment manufacturing toward complete production solutions.
Yufeng will continue to focus on customers' actual production requirements, integrating process engineering, equipment manufacturing, and intelligent control technologies to provide global bakery manufacturers with automated production solutions designed for the future.