Marel combines cutting-edge technology with butchery skills

courtesy of Janneke Vermeulen (text) and Vleesmagazine

At first glance, Marel’s activities in Boxmeer seem far removed from traditional butchery. The facility houses office spaces, enormous 3D printers, a large Research&Development department, and a Demo Center filled with impressive machines and production lines. Yet, there are significant similarities to classic butcheries, explains Allard Martinet, Director of Product Development at Marel.

Replicating butchery skills

“What butchers do in their workspace, we replicate here in an automated process. How do you pluck feathers from a chicken? What’s the best way to cut a chicken wing? About half of the people in our R&D department focus on such questions. Actions like bending the wing, making an incision, cutting the skin, bending further, cutting deeper, and removing the wing are translated into technology—that is, into machines, robots, and software. This requires specific knowledge of chicken anatomy and processing. It’s not without reason that everyone in our R&D department has completed courses at the SVO vocational training school for butchery.”

This replication of butchery skills goes deep. Allard Martinet explains, “A few years ago, there was a rise in demand for home-style chicken products with irregular, coarse breading. Translating that into an automated process was a real challenge. A machine can easily handle uniform breading, but creating that artisanal touch is far trickier. Yet, we succeeded with our RevoBreader.”

15,000 broilers per hour

Chicken drumsticks, nuggets, tenders in various shapes and sizes, with smooth or irregular breading, whole chickens, half chickens, skewers, chicken fillets weighing 100 or 150 grams—every chicken product imaginable can be made by Marel machines.
“Sometimes we supply a single machine, but more often, it’s dozens to hundreds of machines or even an entire factory. About 250 machines are involved in taking a live chicken and turning it into a product ready for sale,” Allard Martinet explains. “In recent years, there has been significant progress in efficiency. When I started here in 2005, our machines could process 10,000 broilers per hour. Now, it’s 15,000—over four per second.”

Such staggering numbers require innovative techniques. “In the past, line managers could monitor the process visually, but now it’s simply too fast. These days, they rely on data dashboards to track performance. AI software, smart camera systems, and sensors monitor quality. This shift toward automation, robotics, and digitization has accelerated dramatically in recent years—especially in poultry processing, unlike red meat, where many steps, such as deboning, are still done manually.”

Wet and cold

Marel’s advanced technology addresses the growing labor shortages in the food industry. “The sector has long faced challenges in staffing. In Europe, migrant workers recruited from ever more distant regions, including Asia, are no longer an exception. This trend underscores the persistent demand for production employees.” While automation and robotics offer solutions, they introduce a new challenge. “You still need skilled technicians who know how to operate and maintain such a robot. There’s a significant shortage of such technical professionals too, especially in wet and cold environments. Technicians often have alternative employment options in more comfortable settings, such as order-picking departments in e-commerce, which are typically warmer and offer more regular hours. To manage the transition to automated and robotic processes effectively, it’s advisable to implement changes in phases. This approach allows companies to align with the recruitment and training of technical staff.”

Carcass balance

For poultry processors, the end product diversity has also evolved significantly in recent years. Allard Martinet states, "The number of end products has grown tremendously. In the past, people bought half a chicken, a leg, or a fillet. Nowadays, up to thirty different parts are obtained from a chicken, including the organs. Carcass balance has become very important; our customers want to utilize as much of the chicken as possible. It's a huge puzzle to do that efficiently and effectively."

Natural product

Retailers and consumers have also become more demanding, observes Allard Martinet. "Retailers want packages with three chicken fillets totaling 400 grams. However, chicken is a natural product, so it doesn't easily conform to that requirement. Thanks to new, intelligent software, robots can now find combinations of fillets from different broilers that still total 400 grams.”

End product diversity

The possibilities with poultry meat now extend far beyond just fillets or legs. Allard Martinet notes, "The number of end products from chicken, packaging options, and portion sizes are immense today, partly due to trends like convenience food and shrinking households. A few years ago, we expected the number of end products to stabilize, but nothing could be further from the truth. This also makes automation processes more complex. It takes about three or four extra machines in the process to turn an eviscerated chicken into a chicken nugget.”

Air-permeable steel

In Marel's Demo Center in Boxmeer, Allard Martinet showcases several machines that enable a wide variety of end products. He points out a RevoPortioner, explaining, "We use a new forming technique: with air-permeable steel, the meat mass—ground chicken—is drawn into molds on a rotating drum and then blown out. This allows us to shape a sticky mash into the desired form, which was previously challenging." Martinet indicates large drums with various molds, from chicken nuggets to dinosaurs and company logos. "This enables each manufacturer to choose their own shape and size. These choices affect the entire subsequent process. For instance, a thicker shape requires longer oven time or different frying methods."

No errors allowed

In such a delicate process, errors are unacceptable, says Martinet. "Mistakes impact the end product. The weakest link defines the product. Here, we test with manufacturers how their preferences influence the process and identify adjustments we can make. It's become a complex operation. Previously, you could outline the process on a piece of paper. But those days are over."