A Leeds dessert manufacturer is tripling packaging productivity after investing in automation with support from Made Smarter Yorkshire.
Get Baked, the business behind the viral 24-layer Bertha® chocolate cake, secured a grant towards an automated flow-wrapping machine that is transforming one of its most labour-intensive production processes. The technology is also creating new opportunities for wholesale customers and future product ranges.
The support we received from Made Smarter has been priceless. As a fast-growing business, investing in automation is critical to improving efficiency, increasing capacity and supporting sustainable growth. The grant has helped us modernise our production processes, while the strategic support has given us the confidence and direction to plan our next steps.
Amy Myers, Managing Director , Get Baked
Get Baked has built a cult following for its indulgent cakes, brownies, cookies, pies and puddings, growing into one of Yorkshire's best-known dessert brands.
The business was founded by entrepreneur Rich Myers in 2011, when he began making and delivering handcrafted desserts directly to customers' doors, long before food delivery apps became commonplace.
After relaunching the business in 2021, Rich and his wife Amy have transformed Get Baked into a rapidly growing manufacturer, selling direct to consumers through its website while expanding its retail presence.
Amy now leads the business as Managing Director, while Rich focuses on product development, creativity and marketing.
The business now produces thousands of customer orders every day from its bakery in Leeds, with retail outlets in Manchester and London's Covent Garden.
However, scaling the business also exposed new operational challenges. Production planning, stock management and operational reporting remained heavily reliant on interconnected spreadsheets and manual processes, consuming increasing amounts of Amy's time.
As the business worked towards SALSA accreditation to unlock new retail and wholesale opportunities, manual packaging also emerged as a production bottleneck. Two members of staff could spend an entire shift individually wrapping cookies in greaseproof paper before boxing and sleeving them by hand. The labour-intensive process restricted throughput, shortened shelf life and made it harder to scale production while minimising waste.
Amy and Rich recognised that sustaining growth would depend on investing in digital systems and automation.
Get Baked's route to Made Smarter was slightly unconventional. When Programme Manager Jessica Armitage, already a customer of the business, spotted a social media post about new production equipment, she reached out to see if the programme could help.
Amy and Bakery Director Kevin Tetley worked with adviser Simon Cave to develop a Digital Roadmap, reviewing the business's operations and identifying a series of projects to support future growth. The roadmap identified Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as a long-term priority to replace manual spreadsheets with integrated planning, stock management and production systems, alongside a number of automation projects capable of delivering immediate productivity gains.
One of the first priorities was packaging. Having secured SALSA accreditation, Get Baked wanted to make its products retail ready while increasing throughput and improving efficiency.
The business secured a £13,000 Made Smarter Digital Technology Grant towards a £20,000 investment in an automated flow-wrapping machine. As well as automating the packaging of cookies, the equipment can also wrap brownies, chocolate bars and future confectionery products, increasing production capacity while supporting the company's expanding product range, new retail opportunities and long-term growth ambitions.
Replacing manual packaging is expected to significantly increase throughput while reducing the amount of repetitive manual work required on the production line.
Whereas two employees would spend an entire shift manually wrapping and boxing cookies, the same team can now package around three times as many products during the same period while being redeployed to support other valuable activities across the bakery.
The investment also opens up new commercial opportunities. By significantly extending the shelf life of its cookies, flow wrapping gives Get Baked greater flexibility to manage production, reduce waste and respond more effectively to customer demand.
The technology improves product presentation while producing retail-ready packaging, creating opportunities to supply new customers, support wholesale growth and expand into additional retail channels.
Its flexibility also allows the business to support new product launches without further packaging investment.
The business is now exploring specialist support through Made Smarter to identify the right ERP and manufacturing planning solution, helping integrate production, stock management and business data into a single connected platform.
Amy believes this next phase will reduce time-consuming administration, providing greater visibility across the business and creating more time to focus on strategy, innovation and growth.
She said: "If I wasn't spending my time doing loads and loads of spreadsheets and data input, I'd have more time to actually enjoy and oversee the business rather than being stuck in the weeds with it. With Made Smarter's ongoing support I can see the light at the end of the tunnel."
