When it takes three days to make just one loaf of organic sourdough, accurate monitoring and reporting of cool room temperatures is crucial to maintain stock control and quality.

Baker Michael Klausen and business partner David James launched Melbourne-based bakery Brasserie Bread in 2011 as an expansion of Sydney’s Bayswater Brasserie.

Brasserie Bread’s traditional baking techniques shun additives and artificial enhancers and require rigorous temperature accuracy and awareness. Not suprisingly, the artisan bakers found being in the two Brasserie locations at once a challenge.

To protect the quality of their bread and comply with food safety requirements, the bakers eventually looked to the ‘cloud’. In doing so, the pair became one of the first bakeries in Australia to use a ‘hands off’ approach to improve business efficiency, sales and performance.

Using wireless temperature tags inserted into batches of dough and installed in cool rooms, data automatically transmits via radio frequency to the monitoring devices through the Telstra Next G network. Information can then be simply accessed with a secure login on via any web-enabled device.

The monitoring solution has enabled both bakeries to receive remote access to real-time temperature data. Telstra’s wireless M2M Control Centre platform transfers the data to a cloud-based monitoring service devised by specialists in remote monitoring and tracking software, Cooltrax. As a result, Brasserie Bread maintains 24/7 visibility of cool rooms and dough.

“Our previous thermostat system required a great deal more manual maintenance – traditional monitoring and reporting dough and coolroom temperatures, updating paperwork and the need to be onsite to check fridge temperatures twice a day,” Michael said.

“This has virtually eliminated the risk of human error and enables us to log into the system from our iPad or smartphone anytime, anywhere.”

The development has also improved staff efficiency and prevented thousands of dollars in lost stock. The new M2M system transmits unit and product temperatures in five minute intervals. Any temperature fluctuations or device failures trigger automatic email and text alerts to managers who can fix problems quickly.

According to Michael, it has saved the business up to 10 hours per week in manual monitoring which equates to about a three per cent saving in staff costs.

“Telstra’s Next G network is very thorough and gives great peace of mind for companies with temperature-sensitive products,” Michael said.

“Businesses using this system can monitor and make changes to temperature from their laptops or smartphones and soon they will be able to do this from a new smartphone app also. We’re working to consistently upgrade and streamline these systems even further for our clients’ businesses.”