In 2015, Dindings opened its greenfield poultry processing plant in Malaysia, almost exclusively equipped with systems from Marel. Several updates and seven years later, Dindings is still as happy with its configuration as at the beginning, not least thanks to good maintenance and service. Lau Ngie Jun, assistant manager (production) at Dindings and in charge of the primary processing line, talks about his experiences.
“In our previous plant, we used to have old machines that involved a lot of maintenance and still didn’t work properly. We had to add a lot of temporary manual processes to overcome these challenges such as in the evisceration and giblet harvesting departments. Now, by using Marel systems, we actually save a lot of time and manpower. Marel also gives us real insights into how the machines work. We learn how to adjust machine settings to optimize performance and have better quality. We also subscribed to Marel’s PMS preventive maintenance service program. This helps us understand which parts should be exchanged periodically to keep our processing lines in perfect shape and prevent breakdowns due to lack of maintenance.”
“The impact of the pandemic on the poultry industry in Malaysia was great. In our ‘open’ periods, we could keep machines operating even when we faced a severe breakdown. Luckily, we could rely on professional technical support from Marel. As it was impossible to send over an engineer, Marel could only offer support from a distance. In the end, the remote response was even faster than a personal visit. With the technical instructions given remotely to our own technicians, we could solve the issues ourselves. Marel does an excellent job of supporting us. If we have a question, Marel is extremely helpful in finding the answer and we are able to contact a specialist at short notice. We get to talk directly to an engineer who knows in detail how our lines are running.”
“In Malaysia, veterinarian regulations are very strict. The focus is on preventing cross-contamination. Luckily, Dindings and Marel share that focus. So we pay a lot of attention to hygiene, which already starts with the GP live bird handling system. Here, washing containers thoroughly is important.” Dindings’ primary process boasts Marel equipment only and consists of two parallel lines. The first 12,000 bph [200 bpm] line processes broilers, while the second 6,000 bph [100 bpm] line processes broilers and parent stock. Marel primary systems include stunning, scalding, plucking and evisceration processes up to chilling. 3,000 products per hour [50 ppm] then go to the whole bird line, which uses a Marel Compact Grader to grade the whole grillers. The other 15,000 products go to the distribution line.
Our process has become much faster, although we still have the same amount of manpower.
Lau Ngie Jun
Assistant Manager (Production) at Dindings, Malaysia
“First, SmartWeigher and IRIS determine weight and quality. Innova PDS then distributes these 15,000 products per hour [50 ppm] to their best destinations. There are three lines. One is for whole products, the second is for regular cut-up on an ACM-NT line and the third is also an ACM-NT line but for 9-piece QSR cut-up. Personally, I like the way our distribution and cut-up lines have been configured. Thanks to the high level of automation, we can speed up the process to 15,000 pph [250 ppm]. Besides saving labor, we have a competitive edge, because in a lot of the countries around us processors are not up to these automated line capacities. They are employing many manual workers to do the cut-up job but still lack the speed.”
“Marel has put a fair amount of Research&Development work into our factory. Of course, the high level of automation has significantly reduced manual labor. We have also noticed that the production process has been streamlined resulting in more consistent generic end products. By way of illustration, we have almost eliminated the need for manual trimming. We no longer have to deal with the uncertainty of human errors. The same goes for the grading process. Our Marel SmartLine Graders and Compact Graders work so much better than manual sorting. All in all, our process has become much faster, although we still have the same amount of manpower.”
Company website: dindingspoultry.com.my
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