Robotics for Sheep Processing

The Ovine Automation Consortium has successfully trialled two robots on the sheep chain at the Alliance Matuara plant in Southland, called Rita (which does brisket splitting) and Alice (which does evisceration). Robotic technology on the sheep processing chain is now being offered to the meat companies in the consortium for uptake, and export opportunities explored.

The Ovine Automation consortium is a $15 million joint venture between the Ministry of Science and Innovation, MRINZ Inc. (jointly owned by Beef+Lamb New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association) and nine industry partners – Alliance, Silver Fern Farms, ANZCO Foods, Blue Sky Meats, Auckland Meat Processors, Crusader Meats, Taylor Preston, Progressive Meats, and Ovation New Zealand. Science is provided by Industrial Research and the robotic technology is manufactured by Milmeq (formerly Millers Mechanical), a world class supplier of quality engineered systems providing enhanced primary food processing, materials handling and chilling and freezing operations. The partners have an established track record through their successful work with the Intelligent Y-Cutter, Soft Pull Pelt Puller and Gas De-Pelting developments, all used on lamb processing chains. No individual meat company has the resources to risk the high investment required for development of automated equipment that will make a substantial difference to slaughter systems.

The introduction of robotics to the sheep processing industry aims to enhance productivity, increase carcass availability for the chilled lamb market and improve pelt quality with fewer repetitive strain type injuries for employees. The introduction of robotic technology to meat processing chains is not new, but for lamb processing the challenges are complex, because of a wide variety of carcass sizes and shapes, from light lambs at 20kg live weight right up to aged rams at 75kg LW. Robotic processing is carried out around the world, but mainly on uniform carcasses, such as pigs and poultry. New Zealand and Australia are the only two countries in the world which slaughter, process and export large numbers of lambs, and NZ is the world leader in this industry. The technology developed by the OAL consortium ensures NZ capability remains at the forefront of the sheep meat processing industry. There are significant benefits to the economy and the sheep meat industry for ensuring the long term health of leading NZ based capability and equipment supply.

Developing an automated solution for brisket cutting and evisceration involved revisiting existing practices, according to Milmeq. The re-engineered outcome is a substantially different system and incorporates novel conveyor design and task reconfiguration. The brisket cutter unit’s cutting action is hydraulically powered for instantaneous action, and achieves consistent results through stabiliser bars which hold and ensure exact orientation of the brisket for cutting. The key to the evisceration success is the skid and gambrel support conveyor which captures, orientates and holds the free-swinging skids correctly. The system makes labour savings by re-engineering the process line and adding automation.

The two robots have been installed on the standard 8.3 lambs per minute chain at the Mataura works, Southland, where they have operated successfully for more than a year. They have resulted in savings of five manned positions on the chain, including some of the most physically demanding and therefore potential health and safety risks. The need for the robots also addresses the difficulties of attracting and retaining skilled workers in meat plants.

The OAL consortium is continuing with the automation of lamb processing, including gas depelting, Y-cutting and brisket rolling, and forequarter clearing. Automation has the potential to save $20 million a year minimum and address the competitiveness of the NZ sheepmeats industry (worth $2.5 billion annually), which faces challenges of distance from markets, higher quality requirements, high exchange rate and high labour costs. Hard manual work with inherent injury and repetitive stress risks will be replaced by operators of sophisticated technology.