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NZ abattoirs united on sheep processing automation 10 Jun 2009

Nine New Zealand meat companies have cast aside their differences in a NZ$16.7 million partnership with a government research fund to further automate sheep processing.
NZ abattoirs united on sheep processing automation

The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology is investing half the capital of NZ$8.36 million, with the Meat Industry Research Institute of NZ contributing NZ$1.3 million and the rest coming from the nine industry partners.

The companies involved in the consortium are the Alliance Group, ANZCO, Auckland Meat Processors, Bernard Matthews, Blue Sky Meats, Crusader Meats, Progressive Meats, Silver Fern Farms and Taylor Preston.
 
The group will be known as Ovine Automation Ltd, and the research will be done by Industrial Research Ltd and Miller’s Mechanical (NZ) Ltd, both of which have a record in automation of the meat industry.
 
Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said the partnership was the most significant innovation undertaken by the industry in 20 years.
 
He said it would deliver productivity gains of up to NZ$43 million a year within five years.
"Like other processing industries, the meat industry urgently needs tailored automation solutions that can improve productivity and profitability," Ritchie said.  New Zealand had traditionally been at the forefront of technological innovation in the sheep meat industry and this initiative would put it back "at the head of the pack", he said.
 
Researchers plan to use state-of-the-art sensing and robotic technology to fully automate the early stages of sheep processing, including removing the pelt and the internal organs.
 
The technology will reduce the number of people needed on each processing chain by 18 per shift, improve pelt and meat quality and cut costs related to accidents and injuries.
 
The meat industry employed about 23,000 people at the height of the processing season, but Ritchie said it faced a growing labour shortage in the medium to long term.
 
"As well as tackling the shortage, the project will make jobs in the meat industry more attractive," he said.
"Rather than carrying out repetitive and heavy manual labour, workers will be operators of sophisticated technology."
 
Ritchie said the involvement of most of the large and small players in sheep processing in New Zealand dispelled the myth that the industry did not collaborate.
 
"OAL shareholders understand that the industry needs to do something on a big scale, a real step change that is beyond the resources of any single company," he said. "We are committed to working together to face the challenges at home, in terms of competition for land from dairying, and abroad, where other sources of protein can be produced quickly and cheaply," he added. 
 
The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology has also invested NZ$4 million in Robotic Technologies, a joint venture between Scott Technology and Silver Fern farms to develop automation technology for lamb boning.
“Rather than carrying out repetitive and heavy manual labour, workers will be operators of sophisticated technology."
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