Eva van der Velde, Product Technologist at Marel, evaluates Marel’s brand new Nuova-i eviscerator, which has been in operation in a real production environment for several months now. “The Nuova-i certainly brings lots of added value. It brings peace and quiet in both production and technical departments, because performance figures are consistent, meaning consistently high.”
“With Nuova-i, evisceration performance is known at any moment and more stable than ever before. People on the factory floor know exactly what to do and they need to do much less than they’re used to. So they can work in a more structured way.”
Poultry processors usually process various flock weights, from 1,700 to 3,200 grams [3.7 to 7 lbs] average live weight, for example. The art of evisceration is having consistently high performance on all weights ánd performing well in the giblet pack harvesting line too. The combination of both skills makes it tricky, but Marel comes out best in any comparison. Correct handling of flock weight variations is one of the most important aspects of evisceration. Until now, evisceration settings were for a given flock weight. Processing a lighter flock with these same settings would compromise performance. On the other hand, adjusting the machine for a different average flock weight required precise intervention by experts who knew what they were doing. Eva van der Velde comments, “With Nuova-i, every operator knows what to do with each flock. When a heavy flock arrives, you simply select the right program on the touchscreen. The machine settings then adjust themselves. When light birds come in, you press the icon with the small chicken to activate the corresponding program; it is as simple as that. This works wonderfully. Performance stays incredibly stable.”
Nuova-i gives confidence in the production line, because it is data-driven and depends less on human interpretation. Eva van der Velde continues, “Previously, when something seemed to be wrong, an emergency call went out immediately to Technical Service. Then the technical guys started rechecking everything, because they didn’t know where to look for the cause. That would cost a lot of unnecessary hours, especially if, in the end, nothing was wrong. With Nuova-i, the figures are consistent and uptime is close to the maximum. There aren’t unexpected incidents any more and there’s no reason to panic or make an emergency call to the Technical Department. The screen shows in real-time when one of the evisceration units tends to underperformance or needs maintenance. There’s plenty of time to take preventive action.” With Nuova-i, processors will have more reliable and relevant data at their fingertips, which certainly provides a lot of added value. They can be more data-driven than ever, allowing them to predict even what their yield is going to be.
The integrated Nuova-i software package in its most complete form is combined with the overarching IMPAQT software for the primary line. This software cooperation brings up additional real-time data on Nuova-i’s HMI display, such as information about ‘one-leggers’ and shackle performance. The new HMI screen is very straightforward to use. “It doesn’t require much training. Half an hour’s instruction will do. Operation of the machine is that simple.
Evisceration performance is known at any moment and more stable than ever before.
Eva van der Velde
Marel Poultry Product Technologist
“The new technological improvements of Nuova-i, such as the new spoon, have definitely made the whole operation more hygienic. Due to improved viscera pack separation, the process is much cleaner. The pack is also more compact. Intestines hang out less, so there is less soiling and less chance of cross-contamination. No intestinal remains are left behind in the evisceration line.” Eva van der Velde also talks about the new pack shackle, “The connection with IMPAQT enables processors to see specifically the performance of the new pack shackles. They perform more stably and more durably, because they wear out less and are more robust. Another advantage of the new shackles is that they drop fewer than 0.5 percent of the packs.
Giblet harvesting can’t be adaptive; it’s a uniform way of working and the same for all incoming products. Therefore, it is logical that the giblet harvesting process benefits greatly from the consistent and compact viscera pack produced by Nuova-i. “There are no longer different types of packs, like the one that is a bit torn or another that has long strings of guts. They are all the same, so there is virtually no loss during harvesting,” concludes Eva van der Velde.
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