development and ingredients, and financial and networking support. That wider sense of responsibility was evident
in conversations around Rademaker’s other operations, too. The company’s expansion in Slovakia has become an important local employer, while its engagement with universities reflects an understanding that developing the next generation of technical talent is not something that happens independently of the communities in which manufacturing takes place. One phrase I heard during the visit captured
that attitude particularly well: Rademaker does not want simply to be “in the community”; it wants to be “a part of it.” That distinction is useful when considering what the Experience Centre represents. It is certainly a place to test machinery. It is a place to bring ingredients, trial recipes, examine production challenges and assess how a proposed system performs. But it is also a physical expression of a much longer relationship between Rademaker and the bakery industry, built around technical knowledge, measured development and the belief that successful automation begins with understanding the product and the people making it. Walking through the facility, with equipment
ready to be configured and tested and dedicated processing areas allowing components and parts to be changed quickly as trials evolve, that philosophy becomes tangible. Even the practical
details — from controlled hygiene and PPE requirements through to the ability to source customer ingredients internationally when required — reinforce the same principle: testing is intended to remove uncertainty, not introduce another layer of it, and for a bakery considering a major investment, that distinction matters. A machine can be demonstrated almost anywhere. What is harder to replicate is the opportunity to bring your own ingredients, your own product ambitions and your own production questions into a working environment, then sit down with people who understand what happens when those ideas meet industrial reality. That, ultimately, was what I found most
interesting about being invited to see Rademaker’s Chicago Experience Centre first- hand. Beneath the engineering, automation and impressive scale of the operation is a deliberately
Doug Hale, Director of Systems Integration
measured approach to innovation — one that looks forward without being too quick to abandon what has already been learned. That is perhaps the most revealing thing
about Rademaker after almost five decades in bakery technology: its idea of progress is not about moving faster, but knowing when, why and how to move forward.
Building the bakery around what comes next Walking through Rademaker’s Innovation Centre in Chicago, it quickly becomes apparent that the facility is intended to demonstrate more than individual pieces of bakery equipment. The emphasis is on how technologies interact, and how the people using them can make sense of an increasingly complex production environment. During my visit, I spoke with members of
Rademaker’s team across several areas of the business, including Doug Hale, Director of Systems Integration. Doug leads a small engineering and project-management team responsible for bringing complete production systems together, from initial planning through integration and commissioning. Our conversation offered a useful perspective on one of the less visible aspects of modern bakery automation. The machines may be the most tangible part of an installation, but making them work as one system – and ensuring the people operating that system understand it – is
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2026 • KENNEDY’S BAKERY PRODUCTION • 11
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