Marel will introduce its new FleXicut water-jet trimming and portioning robot for whitefish at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels in May.
The bones in whitefish are notoriously difficult to locate and remove, and the process traditionally requires a lot of skilled labour. According to Marel, the automation of this process with FleXicut not only reduces the need for skilled labour, but also greatly improves product handling and yields.
FleXicut incorporates two critical processing steps in one machine; locating the pinbones precisely, and cutting/trimming to remove the bones. The equipment consists of high resolution X-ray detection, image control, and a water-jet cutting mechanism for removing pinbones.
By using water-jets for the bone removal process, which is more flexible than blade cutting, Marel says that the FleXicut can perform a variety of cutting patterns, and the angle cutting option allows it to follow the curved lines of the bone frame very closely, thereby further reducing pinbone material. This means significant yield gains in the loin – the most valuable part of the fish.
The automation of the process enables processors to produce bone-free products with virtually no manual handling and introduce new products such as skin-on loins and baby fillets.
The FleXicut is the first tangible output of an ongoing project called APRICOT (Automatic Pinbone Removal In COd and whiTefish) – a collaboration between Marel, Sintef, Norway Seafoods, and Faroe Origin. It is based on detailed research on the raw material and processing techniques, using the very latest of Marel’s technological solutions.
Marel
Stand 4-6227
Seafood Processing Global, 6-8 May 2014
