When it comes to roasting coffee, the details of this special science are extensive. But what about the roastery itself? What should that look like? Are the equipment, workflow and systems set up in the most efficient way possible? 

Coffee professionals often find themselves roasting large amounts of coffee before they can take the time to think through their process. Another problem is that coffee professionals don’t know what they don’t know, and though their operation may seem efficient, there could be more up for grabs. 

         The first and most obvious is efficiency of space. The temptation can be to get a bigger space but with a bigger space comes greater responsibilities (like more rent money, higher utilities, ect.) So how do you maximize a smaller space?

Tim Wendelboe, who runs a roastery and the espresso bar, “Tim Wendelboe” in Oslo, Norway, is a master of efficiency of space. His roastery in Norway is only 93 sq. meters, with two-thirds of that dedicated to storage and only one-third for roasting.

“We’ve been limited to having a small space because rent is expensive, so when you have those limitations you have to make it work somehow.” Wendelboe said. “Like with the Sovda we made it work by turning the hopper around on the color sorter. You just have to be a little bit creative and normally it works quite well.”

One of the largest consumers of space in any roastery is green coffee. Our solution? Coffee warehouses.

         Coffee warehouses have a whole list of green coffee suppliers that store at their location, which means you can get all of your needs met at just one warehouse. That way you can save the space at your roastery for your direct trade coffee and the coffee that you really fall in love with, not sold in your warehouse of choice.

         You then can either purchase the coffee and pay to have it stored at the warehouse or contract it to buy it in the month you’ll be using the coffee. 

We strongly recommend looking into shipping the coffee yourself. Unishippers is a great example of an affordable shipping company. This way you are reducing your shipping costs by having a third-party ship it and you’re reducing your shipping costs because it’s all coming from one warehouse.

         Aside from green coffee, Sovda has also engineered its machines with saving space in mind. Our conveyor allows you to convey coffee to the roaster and to the sorter without ever having your coffee stored in a bin. Our conveyor is also the only conveyor that can weigh while in continuous operation because it has scales built into the hopper and cyclone.

         Removing storage bins from the workflow allows for more space as well as better workflow efficiency. The process of storing coffee involves an additional step of labeling coffee which creates more information that will require careful attention. Thus, storage bins make roasting more inefficient. 

         One of our end goals at Sovda is to create machines that have the ability to send information between one another. We’re getting closer to this goal with our new precision fill that will be coming out in 2021 with its custom user interface that will be able to tell roasters exactly what coffee is being bagged. This new precision fill will have the same unconventional accuracy and speed that our current precision fill has.

         Manufacturing in itself is also a science. The most efficient workflows involve lean manufacturing. An aspect of lean manufacturing is ensuring each person in the production line is working at 80 percent capacity instead of 100 percent capacity. Not only is this less stressful for employees but allows them to be more focused as they work.

Lean manufacturing also disputes a “batch workflow,” wherein roasters will weigh out all of their coffee, plan all their roasts, roast all of their coffee beans, store it all, bag it all and finally ship all of it. This is not the most efficient way to manufacture.

We find that workflows are the most efficient when there is the shortest amount of time between roasting and the customer receiving the coffee, as possible.

         A workflow designed around batches, employs storing coffee and as stated above, storing roasted coffee slows down efficiency because of the extra steps and extra information that must be handled as well as the extra space being used. Roasted coffee should be bagged right away.

Wendelboe, who is known for his efficient systems, roasts all of the coffee that will be sent out internationally on the day that the post service comes to pick it up.

         The most efficient workflow occurs when each person has a clear role in the production line. Wendelboe designates one person to roast, one person to monitor the color-sorting logistics and weigh fill, and one person to seal bags. 

“The person roasting the coffee is also doing the QC like taking color measurements and so on.” Wendelboe said. “...they’re checking the weight and color and everything. And then once that’s done it either passes or not.”

Check out our full interview with Tim Wendelboe on our Sovda podcast.

Bringing us to our next point that coffee should never be passed on without being completed to perfection. Because we recommend the workers work at an 80 percent capacity, this is doable and the quality insurance is built into your production line.

         Not only will a more efficient workflow and efficiency of space save you money and time but it could make or break whether or not your employees are healthy and thriving. It can be underestimated how much noise levels affect employees working in roasteries. In roasteries, the most common sound level is over 80 decibels. With our equipment, we strive for 65 decibels or less. This allows for conversation, light music, and prevents long-term ear damage. 

         Noise levels heavily affect fatigue and an employee working the same job for the same amount of hours will be drastically more exhausted than their counterpart who is working in a quiet environment. 

         Dust is the last issue we’ve tackled at Sovda. We strive to keep employees healthy by building a dust-removing filtration system into our conveyors. 

         Creating an enjoyable work environment for roasters that is both healthy and efficient is at the heart of the machines we build at Sovda. The most exciting aspect of our machines is when a more enjoyable environment overflows into a roaster's personal life like Mark Michaelson from Onyx Coffee Lab who shares how Sovda’s Pearl Mini color-sorter significantly decreased the stress and exhaustion he was bringing home.

Check out our interview with Mark Michaelson: