Keeping maintenance work and costs to a minimum – and therefore avoiding processing downtime whenever possible – is a key aim of most meat processors, but for many it is often unavoidable. However, the introduction of a range of new and improved solutions from JBT TIPPER TIE, a global supplier of processing and clip packaging machines, is helping achieve what was previously thought unattainable – a dramatic lowering of maintenance costs thanks to design that focuses on automatic and technical innovations.
As Jörg Nold, Tipper Tie’s Director of Sales for EMEA and APAC explains, a series of solutions introduced by the Germany-based company over the past two years are delivering tangible savings and efficiency – in terms of both money and time. TIPPER TIE equipment helps to lower maintenance and spare part costs, primarily as a result of Tipper Tie’s innovative design work.
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Improved solutions
One of the most recent such examples is Tipper Tie’s SVU6800 Automatic Clipper, which has been specially developed for big diameters and slicing products. The system, which was previewed as a prototype at the recent IFFA 2019 trade exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany and is due for commercial release by the end of 2019, features a number of technical improvements. But at its core it retains the SV line’s reputation for power, speed and versatility, being able to provide clipping for all kinds of sausage at speeds of up to 65 portions per minute.
Tipper Tie’s SwiStick hanging system
Hygiene focus
Another such improvement has been to TIPPER TIE’s SwiStick Hanging System for hung products, which has been partially redesigned to remove the need for direct human contact, thus further minimizing the threat of bacterial contamination. The system fully automates the hanging and clipping of sausages at speeds of up to 100 loops per minute.
“We are seeing a much bigger demand for automatic hanging lines on the market because the automation means workers don’t need to come into direct contact with the meat,” says Nold.
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“You don’t need to handle the sausages to place the loops on a smoke stick, string the loops, or cut the sausages, which means processors can avoid outside bacterial contamination.”
An extra plus is less physical stress for the workers, continues Nold. As well as improving hygiene, and ergonomics, the system can deliver significant cost savings, with only a single operator required to oversee a line, and productivity increases of up to 25% by improving the utilization of the smoke stick, and therefore the racking, smokehouse, or drying rooms. “This is a huge savings and productivity increase,” Hold adds.
Technological innovations
Similarly, the TC4357, which replaces the TC4356, is a new model of TIPPER TIE’s successful Automatic Single Clipper for stuffing raw and scalded sausage, sectioned and formed products, cooked ham and pressed meat into fiber or artificial casings. In this case, the new design features a complete new touch-screen and upgraded electrical components, including a microprocessor that controls the drive and an electronic memory, enabling structured product recipe creation for quick change overs and repeatable results every time.