Robot cutters more accurate, lift yields

Export meat company Anzco says $10 million of automated cutting equipment installed at its Rangitikei site will do a more accurate job than the meatworkers it replaces.

Anzco general manager of processing Darryl Tones said noone lost their jobs as a result of the new technology, with the bandsaw operators it replaced being integrated into the wider processing team.

It was the first automation equipment installed by Anzco.

Meat companies Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farms have also invested in robotic technology, including carcass cutting machinery installed at Alliance’s Dannevirke site last year as part of a $10.6 million investment.

The Rangitikei technology, provided by Scott Technology, featured an X-ray machine which worked with automated cutting equipment to improve meat yield by allowing a very high level of accuracy. It also reduced health and safety risks for workers, Tones said.

The technology’s cutting accuracy increased the meat yield of higher value cuts, improving financial returns. For example, the value of an extra 5mm on French racks compared with the lower-value flap was substantial.

The automated carcass cutting equipment, which replaced five bandsaws, removed the fourquarter and leg, and deboned the full middle ensuring precise cutting to the exact specifications of each carcass.

Anzco built its Rangitikei sheep processing site in 2005. It employs about 400 people and has an annual processing capacity of 1 million sheep and lambs.

New Zealand Meatworkers’ Union national secretary Graham Cooke said technology at meatworks was not being introduced to make the job easier for workers but to increase the speed of the production line. While meatworkers were earning less, in inflation-adjusted terms, productivity had improved.

The volume of meat exported per person employed had risen from 23 tonnes in 1980 to 46.9 tonnes in 2017.