Keebler Elves Get
Quick Start Training

Keebler’s graham cracker line returns
to Macon

Elfin magic mixed with feline might as Ernie Keebler and Tony the Tiger welcomed guests at the recent Quick Start training plan signing at the Keebler plant in Macon.

Good buddies since Keebler became a Kellogg’s subsidiary last year, the mascot duo posed with such dignitaries as Guy Ball, plant manager of the Macon facility; Jack Ellis, mayor of Macon; and Dr. Melton Palmer, president of Central Georgia Technical College.

“We are excited to kick off this partnership with Quick Start and Central Georgia Technical College,” Ball said. “The benefits of this partnership will extend beyond the walls of our plant. Through programs like this, the state will see firsthand the types of skills that businesses are seeking. This information will help them prepare our current and future workforce.”

The Quick Start program involves the training of some 25 new employees in mixing, baking and packaging the graham cracker line of products. One of six “ovens,” or production lines, the graham cracker operation recently returned to Macon from Keebler’s Denver bakery, which closed last year.

The 300-foot-long, newly transplanted oven produces 60,000 graham crackers every eight hours. Training is especially critical for graham cracker production, a trickier process than the other cookies and crackers. The oven temperature is up to 130 degrees higher, and everything must be done strictly by the numbers. Fortunately, new technology helps. The oven gauges thickness, dimension and color, and automatically adjusts settings when needed.

In operation since 1954 and currently employing 418 workers, the Macon bakery is a significant corporate mainstay in the central Georgia city. “I want to thank Keebler for what it has meant to this community,” said Mayor Ellis at the training plan signing. “We want to continue to provide quality workers to Keebler.”

The 330,000-sq.-ft. facility is also a key component of the Keebler enterprise, as it turns out some of Keebler’s most famous branded products, including Pecan Sandies, Zesta saltines and Town House crackers. Moreover, it is the sole producer of the Keebler graham crackers, made in five different flavors.

Ball explained how the Quick Start training will benefit the plant’s graham cracker operation. “Employees will be qualified on every piece of equipment,” he said. “The training provides employees standardized ways of running the equipment, instead of learning three different ways by word of mouth.” He added that the Quick Start manuals will aid the company in training future employees. Ball first encountered Quick Start at another Keebler bakery, in Columbus. “What impressed me was the professional documentation of the process,” he said, noting that without Quick Start, training for the new graham cracker line would have been difficult. “It would have taken a lot of resources out of the plant,” he said.