New year’s revolution

The food processing industry is set for some major changes in 2010 and beyond. Brian McCluskie outlines some of the biggest coming developments.

“One of the few opportunities left to improve profitability is to increase productivity and yield in the plant”
-Brian McCluskie, CFS

What is the biggest emerging trend in meat and food processing?
Brian McCluskie. From a customer point-of-view, the topic that has gained the most momentum recently is increasing productivity and yield. And while today's tough economic climate has sharpened interest in this, it is more related to the meat processing industry evolving from a 'traditional' way of thinking to a sophisticated business environment where disciplines like TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma (minimising variability in processes) and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) take leading roles.

How is this reflected in the CFS product philosophy?
Several years ago, CFS committed itself to 'lifecycle performance' as a driver for product development. This embodies increasing yield and productivity as core principles, and the most convincing way to demonstrate this to our customers is to show how we help them lower their unit cost. When you consider purchasing of raw materials leaves little room for negotiation and end-customers like supermarket chains dictate the sale prices, one of the few opportunities left to improve profitability is to increase productivity and yield in the plant.

Do you have product examples that reflect this?
We have many examples, like standardisation systems that use fat analysis to help our customers reduce the amount of expensive lean meat they give away, and defrosting systems that virtually eliminate drip-loss, which is weight loss that occurs as the meat thaws. But to keep within the 'next big thing' theme, I want to mention x-ray scanning in combination with cheese and meat slicing. We have developed a system that has significant cost benefits for slicing cheese and bacon, or any product that has an inconsistent density along its length. Products like Swiss cheese or natural bacon are difficult to slice into exact on-weight portions so costly give-away is unavoidable.

What makes this x-ray approach so different?
Optical scanning systems are typically used for making portion weight adjustments when slicing irregular products, but they only take the surface area of the product into consideration. While this approach compensates for holes or irregular profiles, it has its limits. It is possible to get even more accurate results by looking into the depth of the product. Our x-ray system actually looks at the weight distribution and material density along the length of a cheese block or piece of bacon. The results from trials are extremely positive.

That's something big for the future, but what about now?
Actually not so far in the future, and rest assured 2010 will be an important year for innovative CFS product launches. But to give an example of something that already increases yield and productivity, then CFS CostFox is an ideal candidate. This software, which runs on our slicers and packaging equipment, provides real-time performance feedback that allows operators to optimise the machine on the fly. It also informs what to adjust to increase productivity. Keeping the operational 'uptime' as high as possible – and our machines achieve 98 to 99 percent – is an excellent way of lowering the cost per unit, yet it is often neglected or even ignored. CFS helps its customers tap this potential.

Brian McCluskie is Chief Executive Officer of CFS, a leading manufacturer of food processing, slicing and packaging equipment and solutions. CFS serves the meat, poultry, fish, seafood and cheese industries, and has manufacturing plants in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the USA. CFS supports the performance of its customers throughout the lifecycle of the equipment by helping them improve output and reduce operating costs.