Meat+Poultry - February 2024 - 51

Product changes are also becoming
more important for commercial and artisan
sausage processors.
That means companies are focused on
ensuring they have the latest and greatest
stuffing, linking and hanging systems to meet
the demand.
Marel's role in the sausage industry is
to provide innovative, full-line solutions
and individual equipment for its customers'
product needs.
" Our customers are looking for more
automated processes to combat labor
shortages and product quality control
improvement, " said Robert Michael Scott,
regional marketing manager in Georgia for
the Iceland-based company, with US offices in
Lenexa, Kan. " Better weight and length control
lead to better yields. As yields increase, profits
do as well. "
Handtmann Inc., is a solution supplier to
artisan, commercial and industrial sausage
makers with a full line of advanced grinding,
mixing, and emulsifying technologies solutions,
plus filling, portioning, inline grinding, and
automated full line linking/hanging solutions.
" Smarter product preparation with
intelligent Inotec grinding, mixing and
emulsifying technologies creates consistent
product very efficiently in shortened batch
times that can even increase batches/shift, "
said Max King, vice president of sales for
the Lake Forest, Ill.-based company. " Design
innovations and manufacturing advancements
now mean that the various available grinding,
mixing and emulsifying models can also be
tailored to specific operational needs. "
AN EVOLUTION
As late as 1960, packers were producing no
more than 500 hot dogs an hour and they were
not uniform in weight or size. Ray Townsend of
Townsend Engineering set out to find a better
way, and his " Frank-a-Matic, " a machine that
virtually eliminated waste and made hot dogs
at a rate of 36,000 an hour, became a gamechanger.
Three years after its introduction, the
Townsend Frank-a-Matic DB series made more
than 90% of all skinless sausages in the world.
In 1986, Townsend Engineering released
the RT6, and 10 years later, the NL SmartLinker
and the NL FLEXLinker in 1999. In 2005,
Stork Food Systems purchased Townsend
Engineering, which was then purchased by
Marel two years later.
" In 2019, the LK400 Frank-A-Matic Linker
was introduced to the market, " Scott said.
" Although the strengths of the machine have
not changed, we improved weight control,
length control and machine reliability. "
NEW AND IMPROVED
Over the years, Vemag linking systems from
Reiser, Canton, Mass., have become a big
player in sausage kitchens, from handcrafted
sausage to completely automated systems.
Björn Fechner, head of product
management and specialist for linking systems
at Vemag, noted over the past years, the focus
has been on making Vemag equipment more
efficient and user-friendly, developing machines
that increase productivity and automation.
" Difficult times with high production
costs for our customers pushed us to develop
linking systems which are easy to operate with
maximum flexibility for all the production
needs and highly economical in the use of
resources, " he said. " Cost of ownership was
always a big topic for our customers and a big
challenge for us. With our new linking systems,
we have managed to build machines that
reduce cost of ownership with no compromises
in handling, efficiency, and output. "
The company's Vemag LPG 218 Hot Dog
system with hanging unit Vemag AH219 was
developed to increase efficiency and reduce
production costs, as was the identical LPG 238
for a mirrored production process offering
artificial and collagen casing applications.
" They offer perfect linking that fulfils all
customer requirements - perfect weights,
accurate product length, and reproducible
accuracy, " Fechner said. " Both solutions
" Our customers
are looking for
more automated
processes to
combat labor
shortages
and product
quality control
improvement. "
- ROBERT MICHAEL SCOTT
Vemag linking systems from
Reiser are playing an essential
role in a growing number of
sausage processing companies.
www.meatpoultry.com | 02.24 | MEAT+POULTRY
51
Handtmann; Reiser
http://www.meatpoultry.com
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