Beefing up automation in the Australian meat industry to remain globally competitive

摘要

Australian high-quality meats - especially beef - are in demand in many parts of the world, which means many abattoirs are working hard to keep up with demand. In the past, the meat industry has been reliant on manual labour to get throughput happening, but over the past decade or so, a few of the big players - and some smaller ones - have seen the benefits of automation, especially the back end where products are packaged, chilled or frozen, sorted, palletised, picked and dispatched to customers.Like any industry, those in this primary agricultural endeavour look for ways to get better efficiencies, not only in labour, but also energy, cold storage and scoping out new plant and machinery. It is also an industry that has a huge legacy in the Australian food processing landscape in terms of exports and domestic consumption,and in a lot of cases, that legacy is also tied to the aging plant and machinery.