The path to quality without a hitch

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A new meat packing plant serving the Italian market uses the latest technology to process large quantities of product while maintaining efficient traceability and labeling systems.

Mettler Toledo

CONAD ITALIA is a commercial cooperative organisation operating in the retail sector and has a sales network comprising 3000 supermarkets, superstores and convenience stores, plus 14 hypermarkets located all over Italy. One of the aims of the CONAD group’s commercial policy is to be local to its consumers, offer a high level of customer service and focus on the quality of its products.

Based on this commitment the ‘Percorso Qualità CONAD’ (CONAD path to quality) project was launched to ensure that stringent tests were carried out on all products classified as ‘fresh’ at every stage in the production cycle. CONAD CARNI, one of the companies in the group, was set up in 1990 and currently employs 45 personnel. Its job is to cut and vacuum-pack cuts of beef and to distribute them throughout Italy.

As part of the recent programme aimed at expanding production capacity, CONAD CARNI carried out a complete overhaul of its production line with the intention of creating a plant at the forefront of technology solutions. As part of this major investment, the purchase and use of Mettler Toledo products had a key role to play in the success of this project.

Project overview

The plant required seven cutting and portioning lines (nine at full capacity) and needed to achieve a full production capacity of 12,000 tonnes of processed meat per year. ‘We wanted to boost productivity while keeping costs under control and ensuring compliance with the current legislation governing livestock, which has to provide consumers with a transparent labelling system guaranteeing the authentic origin of every piece of processed meat,’ confirm Mr Zanotti, production manager and Mr Lancetti, logistics manager.

The key aspect was to devise a solution that would improve the processes of those working in production. As a result, the new plant used methods to help butchers cut up sides of meat easily, using a particular system for handling and transporting the meat. In order to ensure total management of the processed meat’s traceability and labelling, a simple but efficient IT infrastructure was set up. As a result, weighing and labelling operations are now carried out using a balance and a PC connected to the traceability server. The stages involving the storage of the processed pieces of meat are facilitated by lines that automatically sort the pieces.

‘The solution offered by Mettler Toledo proved to be a key factor in facilitating the management of weighing operations and processing traceability and labelling data,’ confirm the two managers. The plant has been equipped with seven ID30 terminals combined with seven DNCC150S platforms and relevant label printers. The solution provided meets CONAD CARNI’s requirements entirely:

• Reliability. Machine stoppages are kept to a minimum even when operating in difficult conditions, during processing and washing.
• Simple, intuitive operator interface. The touchscreen makes the delicate task of weighing and labelling easy and error-free. Operating as a PC, the ID30 terminal has facilitated the interface with the traceability management server, guaranteeing consistency in the data received and sent.
• Easy to wash. The stainless steel housing and high level of protection (IP67) ensure that daily cleaning procedures can be carried out as easily as possible.
• Compact design. The compact design has allowed the customer to install weighing and labelling platforms in areas where space is restricted.

After the first few months in operation, CONAD CARNI is completely satisfied with the solution supplied by Mettler Toledo. The production capacity of 12,000 tonnes can be achieved with the seven platforms currently installed rather than with the nine originally were planned – saving further costs.

Further information

Mettler Toledo

Tel: +41 44 944 22 11

Email: www.mt.com/contacts

Website: www.mt.com

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