Case Studies

Fast and Flexible

The Marel Speed Batcher increases capacity and minimises overweight in herring batching at UniFisk, Denmark.
 
Marel Scandinavia A/S delivered the first Speed Batcher in Denmark to UniFisk in Skagen in 2004. UniFisk is a quality conscious and environmentally aware company, that works very closely with their customers in producing semi-processed herring for the further-processing industry.

Unifisk’s customers both in and outside Europe are companies who demand high quality when they select semi-processed goods for their production of finished products to the consumers. UniFisk has chosen to incorporate the Speed Batcher into their existing line.

Faster Batching Rate

By using the intelligent and patented method, the Speed Batcher separates the flow of products entering the machine into small portions with known weight in random size. The small portions are then mixed together to gain the desired target weight. The result is a much faster batching rate and higher and more consistent accuracy than possible before without damaging the continuous flow of products.

Birger Jørgensen, Technical Manager at UniFisk

Flexible Batching

“In our production, we are using the machine for both sticky and non-sticky products, which are packed in bags and barrels,” says Birger Jørgensen, “Mainly, we are processing herring flaps and marinated herring pieces of 20x20 mm in 16kg bags.

Presently, we are also testing the machine with products that have never been tested on the Speed Batcher before. The preliminary tests are very positive, and we expect to run different products on the machine now that we have seen its capabilities.”

Great Savings

“Of course, we had some considerations about the investment in the Speed Batcher before we made the final decision,” Birger explains. “For example, it was required that the payback time should be less than 12 months and this demand has been fulfilled with the capacity we already have. In addition, we experience great savings on labour costs, which of course also effects the payback time since we are saving approximately two operators when using the Speed Batcher compared to manual packing.”

High capacity - increased productivity

“We also required the Speed Batcher to be able to run 6-7 tons per hour as a minimum and it had to be able to handle sticky products,” says Birger. “Additionally, we of course expected better accuracy on the ready bags and we got that as well. Actually, we are saving up to 10 % in overweight per pallet that we run through the machine and we have increased our capacity with almost 100 % compared to the manual solution.” 

Multifunctional, user-friendly, and easy to clean

“The Speed Batcher largely exceeds our expectations regarding cleaning, maintenance, and user- friendliness. The machine is very easy to programme, which means that we do not have to call a Marel technician every time we want to make changes,” says Birger, “and it is very compact. It is a multifunctional machine, which we can use on all our products, meaning that we do not need several different lines.”

New investments

“All in all, we are very satisfied with the Speed Batcher and with the cooperation with Marel,” states Birger. “The technicians who installed the machine at our plant were very competent. They have listened to our needs and requirements and completely lived up to them. Actually, we are so impressed with the machine that we are planning to invest in another one.”