"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

Throughout the Cold War, the super-secret Lockheed Martin R&D department, famously known as the Skunk Works, laboured to develop cutting edge technologies for use in military aircraft. While we at Five Senses won’t be saving the world from communist oppressors any time soon, we have embraced the same spirit of technical innovation by pursuing excellence in our field. By investing time and resources in Research and Development we intend to develop, refine and commission technologies that will dramatically increase the quality of the services we provide and therefore the coffee we produce.

When I say time and resources, I guess I mean my time and a fully equipped, dedicated R&D lab. Having the capacity and ability to design and manufacture both electronic and mechanical devices is obviously a key requirement, and we have ensured we have all those bases well covered. Our electronics development bay includes a full soldering and re-work station, a test equipment suite including an oscilloscope, function generators and power supplies. We can design and manufacture our own electronic circuit boards, as well as write the software to programme them. For the mechanical side of things, we have a heavy workshop with the usual drilling and cutting tools, along with a welding bay equipped with MIG and gas welding equipment.

My first project, recently completed, was to add the ability to control the speed of our locally manufactured mixing tray which we use to blend roasted coffee. The machine’s 1.5kw motor and fixed ratio gearbox was causing the blending arms to turn so fast they were damaging a small number of beans. By installing a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) and building a simple control panel, we now have three programmable speeds optimised for gentle mixing and fast emptying.

Current projects include a system to load green beans to both of our Perth roasters from the same loading station, along with a centralised control panel. I am also working on integrating a modulating package burner with a Giesen roaster control console to two of our mid-size roasters. Once completed, we will have full control of the roaster’s parameters within the recipe itself.

There is a significant list of both large and small level projects currently in the works. Some of the projects will bring an increased level of efficiency and safety to the roasting staff here at Five Senses, while others are aimed at perfecting our control of the roasting process. Still others are way out of left field, powered by a theory or a thought that there may be an even better way to do something. Whatever the purpose, underlying all of our efforts is the firm belief that the final report card resides in the cup, and in the quality of the experience our customers receive whenever they come into contact with us.

Now, where did I leave my lab coat…