BETTER BACON, BY DESIGN

Labor is the single biggest issue facing bacon processors and the meat industry in general. Finding, training, and retaining quality workers has always been a challenge and has been made exponentially worse with COVID. Bacon processing is especially labor intensive due to the natural product shape and the resulting wide range of belly shapes and sizes. Anything that can be done to reduce the required labor in the process not only reduces cost, but also makes it much easier to manage the business on a daily basis and consistently hit the production numbers needed.

The labor issue is not just on the production side, but also extends to the maintenance side of the business, as well. Maintenance staffs have been streamlined, which means fewer techs are available to service all the equipment in the facility. Many processors have to rely heavily on the service support of their equipment suppliers to help keep the equipment up and running in good working order. Remote monitoring capabilities built into the equipment and 24/7 phone support can go a long way in reducing line down time.

Another big challenge facing bacon processors is effectively handling and processing larger bellies. In recent years, farmers have been producing larger hogs and bellies to increase bacon quantities. The bigger bellies, however, are less uniform, creating more defects that are difficult to press out when forming bacon on a mass scale. This results in lower yields, reduced slicer line throughput and the need for more line operators.

With the right technology integrated throughout bacon processing, producers can reduce labor and achieve top quality while maximizing profitability of naturally shaped products.

It starts with proper trimming of these bellies directly before pressing and slicing. The Hoegger TrimX was designed just for this purpose. The intelligent system automatically detects and cuts away all belly defects, including fish tails, dropped CT muscle, and thin fat edges prior to the belly reaching the press. The end result after pressing is a perfectly shaped belly that produces the highest possible amount of quality slices. And with our Hoegger X Series Form Presses, intelligent servo press technology uses controlled compression to ensure gentle forming of bacon to deliver maximum yields with minimum giveaway. A slicer that has accurate weight control producing minimal give away, and is able to get every last slice out of each belly, will also help maximize yields.

Equipment like the Hoegger TrimX, with its integrated flattener, scanner, side strapper and docker, can analyze belly dimensions, fat and lean, dock ends and any defects or thin areas prior to pressing and slicing. The imperfect parts are then sliced off. Side strapping and docking functions protect good meat from over-pressing by removing bad areas and optimizing belly volume. Operators can easily adjust and store parameters to match a customer’s slicing requirements, or optimize trimming depending on current market value. This intelligent cutting strategy results in increased throughput and yields, less debris, and ensures the highest quality slices from every single belly.

Hoegger X Series Form Presses deliver higher yields with minimum giveaway due our improved dynamic press process, intelligent algorithms and latest-technology servo controlled drives.

The New CashinSX Bacon Slicer is designed to deliver accurate weight control and maximum yields at high rates of speed. The slicer utilizes an integrated product scanning system to proactively determine how to slice each belly to get exact slice count, accurate portion control, minimal giveaway, and consistent slices thickness throughout each draft. The product infeed drive controls the belly all the way up to the blade to get every last usable slice. The CashinSX also has a very small footprint, which allows it to fit into the tightest production floors.

Our X Series Form Presses feature versatile loading and unloading modules that can be fully integrated into existing or new production lines. And with the TrimX smart meat sizing system, processors can combine trimming, scanning and pressing into one machine - which can improve yield by approximately 2%. It also allows the slicing line to run faster by about 10% because instead of each blade revolution slicing bad slices, it is only slicing good slices. That also improves throughput. As throughput increases, labor costs reduce. For example, what once took two shifts a day per week to produce 500,000 pounds now takes four-and-one-quarter shifts per week when smart meat sizing is integrated into the process.

Depending the processor’s available floor space and objectives, Provisur can integrate the TrimX, XPress, and CashinSX slicer into an automated line. A single TrimX can feed two XPresses, which can then feed four CashinSX slicers. This will provide the highest possible yields while minimizing labor.