Want to solve pork skinning's top 3 challenges?

Challenge 1: Labor scarcity and employee safety

Labor shortages have severely affected the global food industry in recent years, and the outlook isn’t bright. Finding skilled people has never been tougher, especially given the demanding and risky nature of the skinning process. The A-Skin has an array of special features that combine to let you keep your line running efficiently, safely and with maximum uptime while using minimal labor.

Highest levels of automation

The A-Skin’s high level of automation not only requires less labor, it also ensures higher quality. This results in little or no requirement for rework, so you get increased throughput, improved quality and, crucially, significantly reduced labor costs.

Optimal hygiene – minimal effort

The A-Skin is also highly intuitive to operate, and special features mean almost anyone can perform routine maintenance and cleaning quickly and thoroughly. The folding and swiveling infeed and outfeed belts improve ergonomics and make cleaning the machine easier. The belts remain on the machine and effortlessly swing out, giving full access for cleaning. No tools are needed as manual removal of the individual belts is no longer necessary.

Simpler, safer, more user-friendly

The A-Skin is equipped with an innovative quick-locking device for the blade holder. It brings the blade into position and fixes it in place without needing tools. It also remains permanently in the machine for blade changes and cleaning purposes, ensuring quick changeovers with minimal downtime.

Challenge 2: Escalating operating costs

In the face of escalating costs and narrowing profit margins within food processing, it’s vital to actively seek solutions that will mitigate operational expenses. The A-Skin is a valuable tool that will give you the dual advantage of reducing costs across multiple areas while at the same time allowing you to extract the utmost value from your resources.

Reduce energy and ownership costs

Traditionally, skinners use compressed air to power the machine. The A-Skin standard model operates without compressed air to significantly improve energy efficiency and lower operating costs.

The solid construction of the machine also ensures low ownership costs. The infeed conveyor belts are made from exceptionally robust plastic links. These belts minimize wear and tear even when handling even the strongest rinds, reducing the frequency of replacements needed.

Minimize yield loss

The A-Skin has fine-tooth rollers with a unique design that sets the standard for yield. Thanks also to the automatic cut control feature and the pressure fixation, you will always gain maximum yield for all types of products.

Challenge 3: Continually changing market demands

In today's fast-paced and ever-changing market, food processors need to find ways to stay competitive while meeting the diverse needs of their customers. Flexibility is key to overcoming this challenge. The A-Skin increases the flexibility and adaptability of your processing more than any other skinner on the market, ensuring you can adjust to market conditions quickly and efficiently.

Unique bypass for higher throughput

Boost your processing efficiency with the A-Skin innovative bypass function. With this unique feature, cuts not intended for derinding can effortlessly pass through the line, with the A-Skin seamlessly acting as a transport device. This exceptional capability allows you to achieve peak throughput levels in an industrial setting, saves valuable production space, and reduces the high costs associated with additional belt systems.

Highly customizable configurations

Whether operating standalone or slotting into a multitude of line layouts, the A-Skin's extensive configuration possibilities will give you unparalleled flexibility to optimize your processing efficiency. What really differentiates the A-Skin is its ability to adapt to existing cutting lines easily. A range of options, including different belt sizes, subframes and conveyors, can all be customized to meet specific requirements.

Exceptionally versatile applications

The A-Skin is incredibly versatile and can handle all fresh pork cuts, including belly/flank, backfat, neck fat, jowl, shoulder and ham cover, shoulder without bones (also with a boneless knuckle), ham without bones and without topside. It is available in three cutting widths: 434, 554 and 754 mm and can handle all larger special cuts. Changeover between cuts is also quick and easy, adjustments take just seconds.

Ready for future growth

The A-Skin caters to the needs of both medium-sized businesses and industrial players alike. With a focus on versatility, this entry-level automatic solution ensures that you can seamlessly integrate and scale up operations to ensure success in an ever-evolving market.

The best of decades of experience

Every day, pork processors worldwide benefit from the innovative skinning solutions developed from the combined strengths of the MAJA and Townsend brands, both a part of Marel. The A-Skin fits perfectly in Marel’s extensive range of skinning equipment.

Connect with a skinning expert

Take the next step in advancing your operations with A-Skin technology. Complete the form below, and a member of our expert team will reach out to discuss how the A-Skin can address your requirements and enhance your operational efficiency.