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Emerging Labor-Saving Technology Trends for Poultry Processing Operations
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J. Craig Wyvill, chief of the Food Processing Technology Division
of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and an expert in poultry
processing and production trends, discusses emerging technology
trends that will help the poultry industry further reduce labor
costs and increase processing efficiency.
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Q: PoultryTech – The poultry industry has a long history of
implementing innovations to improve processing operations, ranging
from automatic pickers and immersion chillers, to automatic eviscerators
and cut-up machines, to continuous cookers and freezers and weigh/price/labeling
machines, to name a few. Yet, plants still employ large numbers of
workers and frequently struggle to keep plants at full staff. What
opportunities exist to further reduce labor demands?
A: Wyvill – Although
plants continually add new operations, which frequently are performed
manually at first, a number of long-standing
opportunity areas exist where the complexity of the activity has made
it difficult, if not impossible, for conventional automation to tackle
the job. Some of these areas include:
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Feeding and transferring between lines and machines
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Placing product into trays/boxes/cases/pallets
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Deboning
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Continuously inspecting product
Q: PoultryTech – Are there solutions
emerging in these areas?
A:
Wyvill – Yes. Equipment manufacturers are beginning to introduce
some pretty cleaver ways of tackling some of the challenges that have
previously held back efforts to bring automation into these areas.
In the feeding and transferring area, for instance, Scanvaegt
recently introduced two new devices. The first takes accumulated
product from
a tote or container, while the second takes asynchronous product
exiting an IQF freezer and singulates and orients each into a synchronous,
well-ordered stream that is fed into an automatic sorting device
using
a series of rotation wheels and indexing, channeling, and speed-up
belts. Likewise, Baader has introduced a device that takes asynchronous
packaged products, accumulates them on a rotating circular tray,
and then transfers them synchronously using a suction pickup device.
In
the area of placing product into trays/boxes/cases/pallets, Marel
has introduced a device that takes sliced product exiting a slicer
and automatically feeds it into trays in a shingled packing pattern
by sequentially extending the feed belt out over the tray. And at
least two robotic systems have recently been introduced to either place
product
into trays or to place trays into pallets or boxes. The first is
a robotic case packer introduced by CAMotion, Inc. to place trays into
pallets or boxes. The system screens the incoming tray for appearance
and label placement then transfers it to a static tote or box, one
tray at a time, in virtually any packing pattern at speeds of over
one tray a second. The tote, when full, is removed and a new tote
is
introduced in less than 2 seconds. The second is a robotic tray loader
introduced by AEW Delford that uses a parallel robotic design, created
by ABB Robotics, to transfer raw product from a moving belt into
a waiting tray. The unit is capable of handling product at rates in
excess
of one per second.
Finally, in the deboning area, Stork has introduced
a new automatic deboning machine that its designers claim can deliver
yield and performance
that matches manual deboning techniques. It uses an innovative overhead
moving cone configuration that allows the carcass to be angled through
each of the various cutting and removal steps.
Q: PoultryTech – What
about continuously inspecting product?
A:
Wyvill – In-line metal detection and x-ray systems have been
the mainstay up until now with commercial manufacturers in each area
continuing to introduce refinements to improve accuracy and ease of
use. A few years ago, digital color imaging systems began surfacing
on portion management systems to identify blemishes and shape abnormalities.
But in recent years, color imaging systems have begun surfacing commercially
in the area of whole carcass quality imaging as well. At this past
year’s International Poultry Exposition, at least five different
systems were being offered commercially to screen whole carcasses either
on the kill, post-chill grading, or cut-up line.
Q: PoultryTech – In
addition to these commercial offerings, are there other developments
in the works to help in these areas?
A: Wyvill – Yes.
At Georgia Tech, for instance, we just completed fabrication of a high-speed,
robotic tray packing prototype that can
withstand direct, high-pressure washdown (a feat the current commercial
offerings cannot achieve). We are working on this development in conjunction
with CAMotion, Inc. We also recently completed field trials on a computer
imaging system that can identify package seal defects on overwrap trays
using film enhancement technology developed by our industrial partner
Cryovac. Our researchers have also concluded field studies on an infrared
imaging system designed to continuously screen product exiting a cook
oven for temperature uniformity and have since modified the system
to incorporate color imaging to allow for cook quality screening as
well. And our researchers have developed a laser projection system
that works in conjunction with our cook temperature and quality screening
system to alert oven techs of product that may be out of spec. Finally,
they have built and field tested a prototype imaging system that screens
product for the presence of plastic fragments from gloves, box liners,
and belts.
In addition, we are making strong progress in developing
a class of automation systems we are calling “intelligent processing systems.” We
feel this class of automation will give equipment designers added
control to help further automate transfer functions and enhance automatic
deboning.
The concept utilizes integrated sensors and robotic actuators,
in conjunction with digital control models, to dynamically adjust
each
activity based
on the unique physical characteristics of each product being handled
or cut. At the moment, we are working on prototype systems to handle
live bird transfer to the kill line, immersion chiller transfer
to the grading line, and automatic deboning.
Q: PoultryTech – It
sounds like the growing capability of computer imaging and robotics
will reshape the future of poultry processing
automation. What do you think?
A: Wyvill – It already has, to
some extent, with the introduction of automatic portioning machines
that have revolutionized the efficiency
and quality of cutting and trimming product to customer specifications.
With the growing abilities of robots, computer vision, and advanced
sensors, we see continued opportunities to improve the integration
of the processing plant floor and to conserve labor. Concepts such
as “intelligent processing systems” offer the ability to
better manage product and process variability, automatically. One of
the key challenges has been making these technologies meet the cost
and dependability demands of processing operations. Towards that end,
we are beginning to see real progress.
Photography by Steven Thomas, GTRI.
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