Germany-based equipment manufacturer Baader has made a number of improvements to its salmon processing line, including the introduction of a high speed filleting machine, improved trimming options and a new control system.
Baader’s new 581 filleting machine has been designed in a completely new manner with respect to hygiene, performance and fillet quality, said the company. And a stable run of the fish through the machine guarantees higher throughput, it added.
The machine’s settings can be changed during operation and can be stored in a recipe archive for easier handling and quick change over to alternative products.
According to Baader, the 581 leaves almost no head bones, no membrane leftovers or bone residues in the belly area, a clean anal area, and no chips in the tail section. The white membrane can be removed or left on.
Following the 581 filleting machine, the 518 automatic transfer unit manages the product flow in the line and into the subsequent Baader 988 automatic trimming machine.
The 518 unit is controlled by the 581 filleting machine. It ensures that all fillets from the 581 have the right orientation to get into the subsequent 988 machine.
The 518 will reject double placings etc. and correct the distance between the fillets for improved efficiency. It has an improved hygienic design and the manufacturer claims it is easier to maintain.
Baader’s 988 automatic trimmer also communicates with the 581 filleter. It now works at a higher speed over the full size range of the fillets according to the higher speed of the new 581.
The 581 with its best fillet performance has opened new trimming options for the 988. Besides standard options like different belly cut features, colour grading, melanin spot detection, cutting recipes, statistics etc, and the surface trim can now change its position from the belly to the neck area and an integrated tail cutter performs the best tail cut for the skinning machine.
The detection of colour, melanin etc. can be transferred to the following grader for sorting function.
Baader’s 560 Final Control Unit is designed for online trimming. It is also possible that fillets which were not trimmed at the 988 – perhaps because of “mal-position” - can be deflected and trimmed offline and fed back into the process.
This final control system is modular and can be put together according to customers’ layouts.
Baader’s new Manufacturing Execution System (MES) serves as the intermediary between a business system such as ERP and a manufacturer’s plant floor equipment, helping to manage production scheduling and sequencing, creating an audit trail for track and trace and delivering work instructions to shop floor workers etc.
Baader offers a control system that can collect data from every step of the process, which the company said can be used to optimise yield while ensuring traceability throughout the process.
“MES makes it possible to optimise each step of the downstream process flow while enabling quick and efficient detection and elimination of upstream processing defects. We call it intelligent production control,” Baader said.
In summary, Baader’s new integrated salmon processing line consists of:
- The heading machine 434, which performs a yield-saving U-cut. It measures each fish and its self-adjusting cutting tools allow for maximum yield.
- The new high-speed filleting machine 581 for high fillet quality at high speed with much less trimming required.
- The new automatic transfer unit 518 for managing the product flow into the further process.
- The new 988 fully automatic fillet trimming machine with higher speed and new trimming features adapted to the Baader 581 filleting machine.
- Baader 560 Final Control Unit in a modular design for online and optional offline trimming.
- A weighing and grading system for yield calculation, batching and managing the further product flow regarding size, quality, colour, melanin etc.
- Baader’s new production software for visualising and optimising customers’ production with full traceability.
