Foodmate Equipment
 (2) MAX6000 Breast Deboners(1) OPTI Flow Cut-up System
Scope
This project comprised a total rebuild, which went from a big bird deboning production to running products exclusively for a leading fast-food chain that focuses on a high-quality product. The main goal was to produce a high-quality product while keeping labor costs at a minimum.
FOODMATE STRATEGY
The Case Farms project encompassed a total product-mix change and revamp for the plant. Foodmate advised on the best layout and solution to achieve the required high-grade product. Two MAX Breast Deboners and one OPTI Flow Cut-up System were installed. The installation took place over three weeks.
Solution & Results
Case Farms and Foodmate teams worked well together. Foodmate’s recommendations were planned and installed as agreed, and the plant is operating quite successfully as we anticipated. Case Farms reports being very pleased with the new set-up, and equipment performance has exceeded initial goals. Initially, our customer was not too convinced that auto breast deboning would provide a solution that could satisfy their client’s high-quality standards and meet their plant uptime requirements. We are grateful for the trust placed in our solutions and our team. The plant is now using half of the anticipated budgeted labor to trim the breast meat. Overall, the project has been an enormous success from concept, to sales, to installation of the equipment.
How did we do?
Follow up interview with
Jarl O’Barr, VP of Operations · Ohio
What were the deciding factors when selecting your new Foodmate equipment?
Primarily service. Foodmate has better service than the competitors at this time. And specifically to the equipment, its proven efficiency. Features such as bone removal and the ability to size properly on footballs from the Cut-up line to the two breast deboners were very appealing to us. Another factor was the Foodmate’s ability to offer a fast turnaround; machines could be (and were) up and running pretty quickly.
How has your efficiency level improved in terms of rework and product quality?
Our re-work is surprisingly little; we do not put re-work up every day, there is very little to clean up, so the results are very positive, specifically when it comes to the breast deboners, there is minimal re-work. I think it comes down to the product that comes from the Cut-up systems; as we put two wing cutters on our Cut-up line, these hand off a very clean product to the deboners. The new wing cutters do a much better job getting the breast meat off the frame without creating damage. In that sense,  MAX6000 Breast Deboners’ efficiency is also due to the new OPTI Flow Cut-up System’s efficiency, installed simultaneously..
Have you experienced any other added value/gain brought by this equipment that you were not anticipating?
The ability to run a butterfly off the machine instead of a fillet. That reduced the number of trimmers; our bone-free percentage has been outstanding, so we are using fewer people behind the machine.  We now operate with four people less than what we had predicted on the trimming table; this is a per-machine number, so we are talking about eight fewer trimmers are now required. So far, the two MAX6000 machines perform better than we expected; I did not think the results we are getting were possible. And also, we experienced higher labor savings than we initially predicted. The uptime is excellent.I know that in the industry, sometimes there is the trend to automate, then plants pull the machines out, go back to manual, bringing machines back, then pulling them back out again; but as of now, I can confidently say I do not see us doing that, we are not pulling these deboners out, they are doing a great job for us.With the New Cut-up and Breast Deboner install, we are running at 100 birds a minute with fewer people than it took to run 35 birds per minute, so we can clearly see the labor reduction brought by a much higher product quality improvement.
How have your maintenance and operations teams adapted to the new equipment?
Surprisingly well. Our maintenance and operations teams are very eager to learn. Plus, the training from the Foodmate install and service teams made the adaptation process more manageable. It is a real hands-on training provided by Foodmate, working side by with our team.Â
Do you feel that the new equipment has impacted your turnover rate?
We brought in another shift; we are now a two-shift operation, so a turnover number under this scenario would not be accurate. But what we can say is that the plant, in general, is running smoother, the jobs are more manageable, and people are happier, so in the long run, this new set up will have a very positive effect on turnover, we believe.
How has your experience with our service team been?
Very good. We had a couple of days in which we run into some issues, but the team was very responsive and quickly looked for things that could be creating these issues on the deboners and fixed them promptly. We are very satisfied with the responsiveness and technical skill level of the Foodmate service team members.
Key Features
With the New Cut-up and Breast Deboner install, we are running at 100 birds a minute with fewer people than it took to run a 35 birds per minute, so we can clearly see the labor reduction brought by a much higher product quality improvement.
Our maintenance and operations teams are very eager to learn. Plus, the training from the Foodmate install and service teams made the adaptation process more manageable. It is a real hands-on training provided by Foodmate, working side by with our team. Foodmate has better service than the competitors at this time. And specifically to the equipment, its proven efficiency. Features such as bone removal and the ability to size properly on footballs from the Cut-up line to the two breast deboners were very appealing to us. Another factor was the Foodmate’s ability to offer a fast turnaround; machines could be (and were) up and running pretty quickly.
client testimonial
Our client says…
With the New Cut-up and Breast Deboner install, we are running at 100 birds a minute with fewer people than it took to run a 35 birds per minute, so we can clearly see the labor reduction brought by a much higher product quality improvement.
Jarl O’BarrVP of Operations · Ohio
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