Incorporating New Technology – Bakery Growth Pains & Gains

With our exciting move into the Kigali Flagship, TWB has spent the last month in the thick of readjustments, and lots of furniture moving!

While the transition has been a bit stressful and chaotic at times, as one would imagine when combining three entities into one (Kigali Bakery + training center + TWB offices), the results are already proving positive. The bakery took only one day off from operations to transition, and has been increasing production ever since in the larger production space. Meanwhile, the training center is already hosting its first training- TWB’s Bakery Operations Manager Training pilot program, and the company offices are happy to be closer to the Kigali bakery women, as well as the fresh daily bread! 

One of the most exciting, and challenging, new adjustments to the bakery production in Kigali is the use of technical baking equipment, including electric mixers and a three-deck gas oven. While the Kigali baking team was naturally skeptical when we first introduced the new oven and began running tests to ensure the quality and consistency of our bread, everyone has quickly learned new procedures and adopted the giant metal box that clicks and beeps and rings alarms into their daily operations. Within the first week of using the gas oven, the baking team shaved nearly 2 hours from their production time! And, the oven masters no longer have to juggle feeding the fire and monitoring the heat all while baking delicious breads to perfection.  

Over the next few weeks we will also fully incorporate the electric mixers, with the assistance and guidance of our Corporate Sponsor Rademaker to ensure the process. 

We are grateful and excited to take these next steps towards growth in Kigali, and we look forward to improving our efficiency and impact by incorporating better technology!

Technology & The Future of Bakery Sales for TWB

The Women’s Bakery satellite office in Denver is based in The Posner Center for International Development, a co-working space that houses over 60 international organizations. From Guatemala to Rwanda, from China to Syria, the building hosts a multitude of organizations and enterprises seeking poverty alleviation around the world, with a particular focus on cross-collaboration. Each year, the Posner Center hosts a “Poverty Hack” to bring together experts across sectors, leaders in international development, and Posner Center members to work together on various challenges faced by international organizations.

Recently, TWB was a finalist and the selected winner for the 2016 “Posner Poverty Hack.”

With a desire to increase automation in sales for business optimization for our Rwanda-based bakeries, TWB presented a challenge to develop text-based mobile tool. Over the course of three days (from July 10-12, 2016), over 15 individuals worked to brainstorm, develop, and innovatively build a contextualized and innovative solution.

When final pitches took place on the last day of the competition, the panel of judges, including Eleanor Allen (Water for People), Dr. Ann Hudock (Plan International), and Asad Aziz (Colorado State University), chose TWB as the organization with the solution that held the most potential for impact, collaboration, context, and scale.

As the winner, TWB receives funding from sponsor and funder Cognizant Quick Left for implementation. TWB will be working to roll-out a plan with input from TWB women, local developers, and hackathon participants. Our team expects to integrate a mobile sales tool early next year.

A special thanks to The Posner Center for International Development and all Hackathon participants for The Women’s Bakery: Yona Brodeur, Patrick Smith, JoJo Aggers, Jordan Smith, Monica Wright, Micah Gurard-Levin, Sam Lindstrom, Regina Peyfuss, Stephen Richardson, Maxwell “Wolf” Reichard, Amy Greene, Natalie Schreffler and Katie Hile.