If we take a general definition, technological equipment is a complex of mechanisms involved in the creation of final goods and services.
In other words, almost everything that surrounds us can be attributed to it. Networks, servers, etc. are part of IT equipment; tomographs, ultrasound machines - part of the medical. In practice, when it comes to technological equipment, we have in mind everything that is somehow related to the food and trade industry, since it is in these areas that it has found the widest application. Consider this area in more detail.
First bread, then circuses
Technological equipment is the focus of any food production process. We pass from general to particular, and for this we will study its main types according to the scope:
- thermal;
- mechanical;
- neutral
- refrigeration.
Thermal
From the name itself it is clear what function this type of equipment for food production performs.
It includes both familiar ovens, stoves, cooking kettles, deep fryers, and food warmers specific to the average average person (designed to maintain the desired temperature of the final product), pasta cookers, rotary ovens and combi steamers.
Mechanical
If you simplify it as much as possible, then everything that does the work is referred to it, while not heating or cooling the product.
In other words, these are mixers, dough mixers, cutting and grinding machines, dishwashers, scales, and more.
Neutral
Neutral technological equipment is furniture made of certified stainless steel, which cannot be dispensed with either in the production or in the kitchen of a catering outlet. Despite the fact that by design these things are the simplest, the same requirements are imposed on them as for more complex positions. The integrity of the neutral equipment specified in the certificates must be unbreakable. For example, if an unauthorized end user creates a washing hole for a mixer in the bathtub, violating the primary technology, this may be a reason for a fine during inspection.
Refrigeration
Again, the name is clear. This equipment for the production includes all kinds of installations for cooling and storing food. These include refrigeration and freezing chambers , cabinets and chests with similar functionality, shock freezing chambers, which can, depending on the model, bring the final product in a short time from +70 to -18 ° C or -40 about C.
Due to the complexity of the installation and the scale of the devices, many manufacturing plants, when they sell their products to the final person, prescribe in the contract the mandatory presence of their representative at the time when the installation of technological equipment will take place, otherwise they do not have warranty obligations, which again will be indicated in an official document holding the transaction.
The industry under consideration at all times brought considerable profit. In this regard, the process of creating food products was complicated and improved along with how mankind accumulated knowledge and skills. Of course, society itself played a significant role in this, which is aimed primarily at consumption. After a hard working day, a person wants to visit a store and buy at least a loaf of bread without complicating his life with pastries. Technological equipment is aimed specifically at reducing the distance between the buyer and the product. No need to grind flour, grow sourdough, knead and bake bread - everything is done before you, just buy the finished product.
How to sell?
Urbanization did not leave a chance for small shops that conduct business on a notebook. Of course, such organizations still exist, but their number has significantly decreased, giving way to improved automated systems, which record the act of sale. In other words, commercial technical equipment is a set of mechanisms that allow receiving, dispensing, recording, storing and exhibiting goods, minimizing the human factor. The positions of commercial and food equipment are similar, but they also have a number of differences. Let's try to understand this area using the example of a supermarket.
Everyday example
The main difference is in the scale and functions of the objects of the first and second categories.
Products in the supermarket are stored on shelves for displaying goods, which are characterized by ease of use for customers.
Items that need cooling are again located in such a way as to optimize the acquisition process. A vivid example is open refrigerators, bonnets and slides. In production, they would be inappropriate, since something would constantly fall from them, because it is still open space. But for a self-service system, this is ideal.
Scales on the trading floor are consumer in the first place. They have far from the same capacity as in production. But the operation of technological equipment in this form is facilitated to the maximum. The client came up, weighed, walked away.
Also, the trade and technological equipment is represented by such a specific apparatus as a fiscal registrar (or KKM in the case of autonomous operation). Without it, from the point of view of the legislation of the Russian Federation, the organization’s activity is impossible, since it is he who, through a cashier’s check, records the completed act of sale. The complete set of the fiscal registrar includes EKLZ - a special tape that carries the function of a storage device. EKLZ includes all transactions made at the checkout for the year, and is provided to the tax office.
In addition, a kind of commercial and technological equipment is also a position for the production of "fast food". Appliances for making cotton candy, popcorn, hot dogs , etc., cannot be fully attributed to the food industry, since they are purchased by end customers for direct benefit.
Prospects
Is it worth saying that the main technological equipment is doomed to grow and become more complicated? It will not become obsolete as a phenomenon, but will become more and more actively improved. The need of people for food and technology is undeniable, because a step back to the symbiosis of hunting and gathering is impossible. In other words, a specific reverse progression is outlined - the easier it will be for people to get the final products of production, regardless of their composition and structure, the more difficult will be the technological equipment on which they will be manufactured.
Is it worth it?
Due to the importance of the final product, which forms the basis of human life, the production of technological equipment is subjected to severe control at all stages of creation. The owners of firms that are just starting activities in the field of the trade or food industry should understand that the proverb “avaricious pays twice” refers to them first. If you save on equipment, then there is a considerable risk of frequent breakdowns of initially poor-quality "hardware", and this will drive sticks into the wheels of production. Is it worth the episodic surge of greed for the loss of future benefits?