Meat&Poultry - August 2012 - 66

KAYEM

“There are multiple lines in the batch operation,” Peter says. “Typically, runs don’t last much more than 30 minutes to an hour. It’s a part of the business we do well. We satisfy small customers with unique products.” The continuous line or CT area, the final of five additions to the Chelsea facility’s footprint, was built in 1999, and it is a showpiece of hightech processing technology. “We have six basic stuffers and we swap back and forth in between natural casing franks and skinless franks in about a 15-minute changeover,” Peter says. “We’re looking to add robotics [for various material-handling tasks]. We’re phasing in that technology.”

In 1989, a warehouse area and blast freezer were added. An internal sliced deli room was incorporated after that. The fi nal addition came in 1999: a high-volume, continuous frank line built to help grow the company’s branded business. The continuous-frank line was the last physical expansion of the facility and company executives then started revaluating the costs inside the building. As a result, an Alkar PureLink system was installed in 2011. This 3,500-lb.-per-hour line allows Kayem to produce natural-casing sausage and utilize cook-in package technology, among other things. It incorporates robotic technology to load individual packages into boxes plus place boxes of product onto pallets.

ergonomic issues in our existing processes,” Peter says. “It’s giving us product with no preservatives added and tremendous shelf-life, upwards of 90 days. We addressed most of the repetitive-motion and lifting issues by utilizing robotics. It also improved productivity. Where that line operates today used to be dead storage space. We get about 180 lbs. per-man-hour out of that footprint. That’s a big strategy for us.” Other benefits include product uniformity, increases in yield and foodsafety benefits, such as the final cooking and chilling is done in the package. At the front of the PureLink system, devices stuff, link and cut the sausage links into lengths. Product then transfers to a loading device where individual links are automatically loaded into the cooking and smoking module. Kayem’s system can use both natural and liquid smoke. Product then passes through a series of zones that apply the smoke, flavor and coloring. Next, product is automatically transferred to a robotic loading device that loads product into a package. Packages are then sealed, evacuated and labeled and transfered to the pasteurizer where packaged product is brought up to fi nal cook-

A custom-built, 140-ft. long oven installed in 1999 featuring an 8,000 lb.-per-hour capacity has four cooking zones for operators to dial in cook cycles. This oven limits shrink, ensures quality color and product appearance. Since opening in 1970, there have been multiple additions and upgrades at the Chelsea plant. In 1982, Kayem Foods began its roast-beef business. “We added a portion to the building to facilitate making whole-muscle meat items,” Peter says.

“What we produced on our former continuous line with approximately 25 people [per shift] was converted into a highly automated line now staffed by 12 people [per shift] – and we’re getting the same throughput,” Peter says. “Our objective is to produce more pounds within the same footprint.” The installation added about 15 million lbs. of capacity to the facility, Matt says. “We needed to expand our foodsafety capability plus address some

ing temperature (the technology can fully or par cook) and then chilled down. It is then discharged to a dryoff device and sent to a boxing and palletizing station via robotics. Packaging at Chelsea primarily consists of vacuum packaging and gas-flushing packaging.

People-power
To further ramp-up operations, the company recruited professionals from outside of the company. “Kayem has

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