Chocolate and Engineering …

Did you know that engineers are critical in the process of making your favourite chocolate bars/candy, from product development, to delivering them to stores?

There are many different types of engineers that are included in the process…

Chemical engineers are tasked with making sure the taste, texture and structure of the bar is still intact between the making and transport processes. The engineers must make sure that the ingredients don’t mix together when they are not intended to during all the different parts of its journey.

Due to the complicated process of making chocolate, you couldn’t just make them at home, as you’d need to know the right amount of crystallisation of the chocolate to get just the right consistency and texture. In a candy factory, this will be replaced by a scientific process that uses sensors and meters to measure the amount and size of the crystals in the chocolate. Process engineers take a product made in small batches in a test kitchen and develop the means to produce it on a large scale.

The role of packaging engineers is to develop a delivery system and package/wrapper that will make sure the bar/candy is kept at its optimum taste and appearance that will ensure that the bar/candy arrives in perfect condition. There are many different factors that need to be considered and all products that we purchase in store will go through this process.

Mechanical engineers have to design systems that will transport the bars/candy from manufacture, packaging and move them around the factory at high rates of speed without damage.

To make sure the building that is used to make the candy is just right, civil engineers have to make sure that the products can be produced in a safe and clean manner by making sure they meet all current rules and guidelines.

Guidelines are also put in place for environmental engineers that develop management systems so that air and water which goes in and out of the plant is clean and doesn’t mix with the processes or harm the environment.

Industrial engineers are there to evaluate equipment downtime and repairs, and to direct maintenance crews. The continuous improvement of processes is also important, and industrial engineers analyse operations and make recommendations for making the candy bars faster, at higher quality, and for less money.

More and more advanced technologies are being developed and this is due to computer engineers designing and developing ideas for new systems that make the production of candy and chocolate more efficient.

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