Elivia Automates Its Production Line

Interview

Clément BEDOUET, Technical Project Manager, Elivia

Could you introduce ELIVIA?
ELIVIA is the red-meat subsidiary of the TERRENA agricultural cooperative. France’s number two supplier of mainstream meat products, ELIVIA is also the country’s leading specialist in quality-assured supply chains. We operate in beef, pork, veal and lamb. Our 2,600 employees across 16 sites slaughter, process and market 150,000 tonnes of beef, pork and lamb every year.

What was the project and what objectives were you aiming to achieve?
The selected supplier had to take our product from the freezer outfeed through to palletising the finished product. At the start of the project, the main packaging challenge was the complete integration of the line.
The objective was simple: automate the entire line.

What solution did JYGA propose and how does it fit into your project?
JYGA PROCESS proposed robotising our production line and integrating a wrap-around case packer. This was new for us because we had previously used RSC cases.

How has this solution changed your packaging methods?
Integrating the case packer brought a major change. Previously, the entire packaging line was manual; both line throughput and OEE have increased.
We also changed our case format internally, moving from RSC cases to wrap-around cases, which reduced our case costs. Pallet stability is also very good because the cases interlock with one another.

What convinced you to choose this solution and work with JYGA?
We had two options: JYGA’s robotised line solution, or another supplier offering a more mechanical system without a robot. We chose robotisation because it is clearly the future of industry.

What are the benefits of this solution?
The main advantage of the wrap-around case packer is the fast format changeover. Another benefit is the machine’s reliability; we know JYGA’s expertise in this type of application.

What results have you seen since installation? Have they met your initial objectives?
Our production line was installed in 2015 for a capacity of 1 tonne/hour. Today, the case packer achieves the throughput stated in the specification and can even peak at 1.2 tonnes/hour. Productivity has also improved. It therefore fully meets our original objectives and we are very satisfied.

Have you since entrusted JYGA with any other projects?
The wrap-around case packer was our first project with JYGA PROCESS. Since then, two further packaging lines have been installed and integrated by JYGA PROCESS.