Labor-free portioning
Morten Dalqvist, Marel Product Specialist, says, "With RoboOptimizer, we really step away from labor. If the products are singulated, portion cutting can now be done without staff. The system will do the job with much more consistency and accuracy than people could ever do. The operator who loads breast caps into the deboning system could potentially be the last person to touch the meat. RoboOptimizer comes as close to a labor-free solution as possible."
Left and right yield
RoboOptimizer features an advanced laser vision system. It scans the entire 800 mm wide conveyor belt, detecting multiple products simultaneously. It measures the length and the width of each fillet and also identifies left and right fillets, which is a patented solution. This is important, because if the portion cutter starts cutting strips at the wrong end, the fibers are destroyed and the strip will be stretched out in the tumbling process.
Morten Dalqvist continues, “Optimizing the angle of each individual fillet can give a significantly better yield for strips. There are fewer off-cuts because we can optimize the right strip length all the time. Before, we used to cut a fixed trim of a certain size to ensure that the first strip met the requirements. By using the RoboOptimizer, we can reduce this trim to a minimum and still ensure the correct strip length. This eventually increases the overall yield.”
Another strong point of RoboOptimizer is that it skips loose trimmings, faulty products and products that are too close to each other. Such products reach the end of the belt without being sent to the portion cutter at all, because this would only clutter the process. This Marel selection technique is patented.