Technology manufacturers work with food processors in a bid to meet their needs through new and improved machinery.
While demands coming from the latter tend to address efficiency, there are various other problems new equipment needs to respond to, among which sustainability, hygiene, and cost reduction.
Every Urschel cutting machine is designed for continuous operation for uninterrupted production to promote industrial level, high capacities, according to Alan Major, chief sales officer, Urschel. As production volumes fluctuate, Urschel equipment may be run at lower volumes to promote batch processing operations.
Additional lines of Urschel cutting machinery or higher capacity models are also available to grow with a processor’s needs. The CCL (Chip Cutter Lattice) compared to the new, larger CCLL (Chip Cutter Large Lattice) is an example of this, Major explains. “Although every Urschel cutting application is unique, there may be correlations between products that share characteristics, especially when creating a similar end-product.
It comes down to considering such items as density, rigidity, size, shape, temperature, and several other factors when identifying the product entering the dicer or slicer. Depending on the product characteristics, Urschel may recommend preconditioning of product or additional steps prior to feeding into the dicer.”
Complete support for customers
For frozen tempered meats, bacon, or cheese, processors rely on the Affinity Dicer (AFF) the premium USDA Dairy accepted machine, or the smaller Affinity Integra Dicer (Integra) in lower capacity applications, according to Urschel’s chief sales officer. For fresh and frozen-tempered chicken breast, pork skin, or leafy green products, a popular choice for many is the new M VersaPro (MVP) Dicer belt-fed dicer which produces two-dimensional cuts.
“Customers around the world turn to Urschel to tap into the vast knowledge and unmatched experience in this area. Heavy duty parts, including specially created knives, outboard bearings, and gearing, are available to conquer hard to process products,” he adds.
As for as customer support goes, Urschel offers complete support over-the-phone, in-person plant visits, or live remotely. Urschel’s significant ongoing investment in the global infrastructure of the company give clients peace of mind knowing their local office is there for complete support in terms of maintenance and training for the long life of their cutting equipment. Urschel speaks the language of food processing and the local language, so important details in customer expectations are met.
“As the Global Leader in Food Cutting Technology, Urschel global personnel possess the highest degree of knowledgeable food cutting expertise. Urschel is the number one best-selling provider of industrial food cutting machinery because the company partners with customers to increase their productivity and profitability. Customers embrace Urschel advantages. Urschel designs new patented cutting methods and discovers new shape cuts to assist processors. Urschel continues to develop new knives, parts, components, and machinery to expand and grow with the everchanging demands of the food industry,” Alan Major concludes.
Urschel offers complete support over-the-phone and in-person plant visits including maintenance plans. Customers may contract maintenance plans at an interval that meets their needs. Urschel customers benefit from having a fully trained Urschel certified technician instead of expecting their employees to participate in costly, additional training.
This is especially beneficial to food processors impacted by the ongoing labor shortage. Determining the proper maintenance practices and frequency of specific tasks is dependent on the machine, food product characteristics, cut and style of cut, knife style, the wear of overall machine components, end-product expectations, degree of precision necessary for cut product, and how the overall production line is setup.
Some products food processors run may be more acidic in nature or tougher on knives. From knives to spindles, wear and tear based on the run hours and type of product and volume are considerations. The type of cut and target precision range of in-spec cuts that is mandated by the food processor is another factor. Food processors need to ascertain at what point knives may need to be swapped out or heads rebuilt based on product build-up. Acceptable routine part replacement protocols may be based on the shift changes or dependent on other production equipment upstream or downstream from the Urschel cutter.
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