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Spanish pork producer Incarlopsa with a new, almost 70,000 square meter abattoir
Building a new abattoir marked the beginning for a complete modernization of the production system at Spanish pork producer Incarlopsa, umbrella brand for several renowned Spanish labels. In 2017, the company launched the automation and digitalization of its abattoir with a weekly processing volume of up to 70,000 pigs.
The history of the Cárnicas Loriente Piqueras (Incarlopsa) family business goes back more than 40 years. For all its tradition, the meat processing company has always embraced new developments with open arms. The company’s focus on digitalization encompasses diversifying operations, winning new international markets, and a high commitment to employee development. Incarlopsa’s vertical business model allows end-to-end traceability of the entire production process while ensuring the highest quality. Pursuing this strategy, the business has continuously grown over the last few years and doubled its sales volume.
Phase 1: Automation and digitalization at the abattoir
In 2017, a new abattoir was built with an overall space of 68,700 m2 . The slaughter volumes of 600 pigs per hour and 70,000 pigs per week could only be achieved through digitalization and automation of all processes at the lines. An essential aspect has been integrating the data into the group’s existing ERP system. Incarlopsa has been using the CSB-System since 2016.
An enormous amount of data is created along the entire slaughter process. It begins with the reception of living pigs at the stalls, followed by washing and stunning, and ends with the grading of the carcasses. Once the carcasses have been graded, they are assigned to a destination, and then the sides are moved off via the shock-freezing tunnels to the appropriate track storage.
Equipment controlled by RFID technology
The data flow in the entire system is controlled via RFID tags. During the slaughter process, the gambrel and the carcass ID are joined, allowing complete control of the whole transport flow from the start of slaughter to storage of the sides.
RFID solutions ensure traceability and the automation of the system, and they enable cost-effective intralogistics processes because processes such as inventory management, transport and palletizing are accelerated. Compliance with European regulations concerning traceability and product labeling is ensured.
In line with the cutting plans, the carcass sides are transported from the track storage to the cutting floor. At the first of thirteen I-points for control and identification, the sides are automatically weighed and posted as an entry in cutting. The carcass is identified using the RFID tag of the gambrel.
In the cutting room, primal cutting is performed entirely automatically. Incarlopsa was one of the first companies worldwide to install a computer-aided cutting system. At the rib, ham, shoulder, and belly lines, the respective pieces of meat are cut and put into crates equipped with RFID tags. The products are then allocated to the crate at the different I-points. This enables end-to-end control of cutting in real time. Additionally, the yields can be determined on lot basis, while an overview shows the differences between targets and actual results.
At the end of the cutting lines, Incarlopsa also uses the CSB Eyedentifier, a combination of industrial image processing and artificial intelligence. During the last months the CSB Eyedentifier has learned to automatically identify the products in the crates and direct them to the company's automated warehouses. This ensures a reliable and fast identification of the products. With a production capacity of over 5 million hams per year, the economic potential of the system is enormous.
Phase 3: Management and control of automatic storage facilities
The storage facility for the pork sides is managed by the inventory system from CSB-System. It combines the grading parameters with information on weight, sex, or company specific parameters to optimize the tracks. Every carcass is put onto the appropriate track.
Using various strategies for putaway and removal, the inventory system from CSB-System also controls the buffer and crate warehouses for bulk goods, which are equipped with four storage and retrieval units and have a storage capacity of 4,400 crates. Incarlopsa now knows the content of every crate, at any time, and at any location. The warehouse is no longer a “black box”.
And the digitalization continues: the next step is aimed at the shipping area with a buffer warehouse comprising 14 FIFO lines (First In, First Out).
