A DATA-RICH business will be a prosperous one in the future but only to the extent it can humanise information and make it meaningful to stakeholders.
That is the belief of Gundagai Meat Processors, which is leading the charge towards automation and objective carcase measurement and has just created a strategic new role aimed at delivering the benefits of that technology to both clients and producers.
GMP is a fee-for-service operation and Coles is its largest customer.
It is in the finishing stages of a $30m upgrade which includes the complete automation of the plant’s lamb carcase chiller and sortation system and lifting production 70 per cent to 4000 lambs a day.
This innovation, designed with consultant engineers Wiley, has zero ‘touch points’, delivering significant productivity gains, improved yield, eating quality, reduced microbial load and therefore increased shelf life and, of course, a plethora of game-changing data.
It is unprecedented in Australian meat processing to have the combination of hook tracking, hot dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and automated chillers in one operation.
Chief executive officer Will Barton said the meat processing sector had always been strong in research and development but the technology coming through now, and the rate at which it was changing how the industry operated, was unprecedented.
With that in mind, GMP has appointed one of the country’s leading meat scientists, Dr Michelle Henry, to the newly-created role of client research advisor to provide technical and research-based advice to clients.
“With the proliferation of technology and the need to work smarter to remain competitive, having this skill set is now as important as having a human resources, quality assurance or finance manager,” Mr Barton said.
Already in place is the automatic chillers and hook tracking, which allows GMP to digitise information about each lamb, such as weight and fat score, and combine it with animal health data to provide advanced feedback on individual carcases.
Hot DEXA is expected to be installed by early next year.
While other processors have installed DEXA to capture data on the cold carcass in the boning room immediately before automated cutting systems to inform exactly where to make cuts, GMP believes there are greater benefits in supplying data to producers in real time so they have opted for hot DEXA.
The added benefit for GMP is the ability to use hot DEXA data to inform sortation decisions in the automated carcase chillers.
“We believe the best investment is in technology to support producers to help secure a sustainable source of supply for our clients,” Mr Barton said.
“Operating exclusively on a fee-for-service basis means GMP does not compete with clients for lambs in livestock markets or for customers in wholesale and retail markets.
“This important point of difference allows us to capitalise on market demand for particular clients who wish to control the product through the supply chain and lets us focus on what we do well - processing lambs.
“To be able to deliver real value to our clients, we see it is imperative to invest in technology and obtain as much meaningful data available to help both our clients and producers improve their operations.”
For clients, it’s about maximising the yield of the lamb by reporting on lean meat, fat and bone percentages.
For producers, it’s about providing information to encourage them to continue to produce lamb given there are other competitive options in the livestock and cropping industries.
“We believe we have a role to play in securing a sustainable source of supply,” Mr Barton said.
“Processors need to do what they can to help producers be more profitable and make more informed decisions on farm.
“Industry, in particular meat scientists, will also benefit from having access to meaningful information to help guide research and development aimed at increasing the profitability of the meat processing sector.”
Mr Barton said the next piece of the puzzle was eating quality.
There was a risk some producers may be tempted to focus on yield, potentially compromising quality, he said.
GMP is looking at a trial using an intramuscular fat measuring device which would provide a similar measure as the visual assessment of marble scoring in beef.
“It is vital industry shows restraint and does not rush to change the payment model from price per kilogram of hot carcass weight to lean meat yield until an accurate and effective measure of eating quality is in place,” Mr Barton said.
“It is important the price signals given to producers are in the long term best interest of consumers,” he said.
Mr Barton said the bottom line was GMP wanted “clients and producers lining up at our door to work with us because they are getting the most out of their carcases.”
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
