Meat&Poultry - June 2012 - 91

Tracking the Path to Productivity
noax industrial computers at Ecolait veal processing facility
Processing veal and data
Whether scaloppini, parmigiana or wiener schnitzel, veal has been among the most prized ingredients in cooking since ancient times and continues to be a staple in French and Italian cuisines today. With its French heritage, the Canadian province of Quebec is a major consumer of veal. With the help of noax industrial computers, Ecolait Ltee, North America’s major producer of milk-fed veal, can profitably provide a quality product both domestically and internationally. Along with satisfying consumers and restaurants, Ecolait must meet the exacting standards of a number of regulators, including certification by HAACP and CFIA. Furthermore, Ecolait complies with both Kosher and Halal dietary laws for Jewish and Muslim but the high-pressure water used during the cleaning shift has given us problems with our previous computers, disabling them when water seeped into the housing,” said Daniel Carrière, Vice President and General Manager of production for Ecolait. “With noax computers, we know that when we begin operations in the morning, our computers are always ready to go.” The ability to identify each carcass is critical for traceability. Immediately following slaughter, a line worker scans an RFID ear tag with a sensor, entering the number into the noax computer as the carcass passes by on an overhead rail conveyor. A second noax S15 computer verifies the carcass identity and weight. The computer activates a printer to run off a bar code attached to the carcass. The data collected by the noax computers are coordinated with information accumulated on the calf by the Epsilia software system, in realtime via Ethernet, providing the ability to pinpoint problems should the need for a product recall ever occur. For this harsh environment, the computers are equipped with plantrugged N8B motherboards, developed in-house by noax.

consumers, respectively. With that amount of supervision, Ecolait must make exhaustive use of data to keep everyone happy. In order to help Ecolait manage all of the data, they use noax Technologies Steel Series S15 industrial touch-screen computers with easy-toread 15-inch displays.

sealed to IP65 (NEMA 4) standards and able to withstand water streams from the cleaning hoses. This design prevents any surprise breakdowns when the line starts up every morning. “Because this information is very important, that computer is our tool to ensure that all tracking and product information matches. We appreciate the readability of the noax touch screen to maximize our accuracy,” Daniel says. The company has added a new packaging conveyor line including another noax computer, used to collect data and print labels that will go on boxes for delivery. “We value the speed of the noax computers,” Daniel notes, “which enables us to take full advantage of the real-time data the Epsilia system captures, so important decisions throughout the process can be made.” The demand for data in the food industry will only increase, and thanks to noax computers, Ecolait will be able to keep up with it.

Readability leads to accuracy
The noax PC, with its high-contrast 1024 x 768 resolution, displays all the data the operator needs to see. Thanks to its resistive analog touch screen, operation is easy even with rubber gloves. In addition, the noax Steel Series PCs use food-grade, bacteria-resistant, V2A stainless steel enclosures, seamlessly

Traceable from farm to plate
Ecolait does maintenance and cleaning on its second shift. All components and surfaces used in slaughter and processing are painstakingly cleaned and disinfected. “This step is necessary,

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Meat&Poultry - June 2012

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