The news in the middle of last year was that giant seafood processing equipment manufacturer, Marel, was trying to promote a shipboard version of its flowline fish processing system.
Using this system, fish are fed down a conveyor belt with processing operatives positioned at regular intervals along both sides. Information is collected at each workstation and fed into a central database from which it can be retrieved by management as and when required.
Data collected for each worker on the line can include worker name, speed, quality, utilisation, product types, working time, etc. and products can be weighed as they exit the line. Random quality control sampling monitors defects, and stations with a higher occurrence of problems can have their sampling frequency increased, according to Marel.
"And as the flowline system operates as a continuous flow, the chance of bacterial contamination is greatly reduced," a spokesman adds.
A single conveyor is used for both input and output. Left and right fillets are processed separately and the line has a bin for untrimmed fillets.
Product is processed in a continuous flow preventing accumulation of product in tubs. One or more product chutes are available for finished product. The workstations come with adjustable platforms, manual water guns, light in the table and optional seats.
Marel's Basic Fish Flowline offers processors a host of benefits, according to the company. These include short processing time, gentle product handling and increased efficiency.
The flowline lowers costs, increases efficiency, reduces salvage, improves utilisation of higher-priced items, guarantees 100% traceability, enhances ergonomic configurations, maximises quality control and provides plant managers with real-time data feedback of entire processing operations, Marel says.
Marel Food Systems consists of several well-known processing equipment manufacturing companies such as Carnitech and Scanvaegt of Denmark, and AEW Delford of the UK, in addition to the original Marel of Iceland where the group still has its headquarters. Each member of the group produces a specific type of processing equipment so together the group provides a complete range from single scales to integrated production lines and turnkey systems, onboard or ashore.
Demand is increasing for complete processing lines where modules for all the operations can be supplied and integrated. This one-stop-shop approach saves customers the trouble of having to assemble machines from multiple suppliers. It also helps to ensure a safe, reliable and efficient installation that guarantees optimal performance, according to Marel.
An example of an integrated system was demonstrated at the recent Seafood Processing Europe exhibition in Brussels where a full trim, cut, batch and load line for whitefish was on display. Here trimming was done on a Streamline, cutting on an I-CUT 300 (with trim reject on a new retraction conveyor) and then the portions were fed into a circular robot concept for batching and loading into trays.
The use of advanced robot technology in grading and packing processes is a continuation of Marel's philosophy of moving more and more towards automation. It says that more than 75% of all unscheduled interruptions to food processing operations can be directly attributed to human error in the form of lack of familiarity with the processing equipment, incorrect operation, poor maintenance and carelessness.
