Production lines
Food and meat processing lines
Plan the processing stages around your product, from preparation and portioning to handling and packaging. Explore the equipment options before specifying the line.
Start with the product and the finished pack
A meat processing line is a sequence of operations. Preparing the mix, metering portions, forming or linking, moving the product and packing it each place different demands on the equipment. The right sequence depends on the recipe, product temperature, portion size and pack format.
The layouts below illustrate processing stages covered by the catalogue. They are starting points for a discussion, rather than accounts of customer installations. Machine selection and connections between stages need to be assessed for your application.
- Define the product: ingredients, texture, temperature and intended portion weight.
- Describe the finished format: loose mince, a formed product, linked sausages, a filled container or a bakery portion.
- Identify existing machines and the operations you want to add or replace.
- State the required production rate, batch sizes, changeovers and available floor space.
Mince and burger processing lines
For a minced or formed meat product, preparation comes before portioning. A grinder reduces the raw material to the required particle size; a mixing grinder also blends ingredients in its hopper. The choice between separate mixing and grinding or a combined operation starts with the recipe and the material being processed.
A vacuum filler can meter the prepared mass into a forming attachment. The former gives each portion its shape, while downstream conveying or loading equipment moves the product towards packing. For loose mince, a forming operation may not be needed.
The final packing stage must suit the product and the container. Tray sealing closes pre-made trays; thermoforming creates pockets from a roll of film before filling and sealing. Discuss the pack format before selecting either approach.
01
Prepare
Grind the material, or mix and grind where the product calls for both operations.
02
Portion and form
Meter the prepared mix and shape it for the intended burger or other formed product.
03
Move and pack
Assess conveying, loading and packaging around the selected portioning equipment.
Sausage production lines
Sausage preparation depends on the required texture. A bowl cutter cuts and mixes ingredients; grinding is another preparation route for products that require a defined particle size. Preparation equipment should be chosen for the recipe rather than assumed to be the same for every sausage.
The prepared mass goes to a filler. Linking equipment divides the filled casing into sausages, and hanging equipment can arrange linked product on smoke sticks. Cooking, smoking or drying is a separate stage for products that require it; fresh sausages follow a different process.
Packing follows the product process. Consider how the sausages will reach the packaging machine, their condition at that point and the intended retail or bulk pack. The catalogue includes sausage linking and hanging, cooking and smoking, and packaging equipment to review as separate stages.
01
Prepare the sausage mix
Select grinding or bowl cutting around the required texture and ingredients.
02
Fill, link and handle
Assess the filler, casing, linking method and any hanging operation together.
03
Treat where required, then pack
Include cooking, smoking or drying only where the product process calls for it.
Pet food preparation and filling
The product format determines the pet food process. A minced product may need grinding and mixing before portioning, while a wet product filled into containers needs a filling method suited to its consistency and ingredients.
Grinders, vacuum fillers and depositors cover different parts of preparation and filling. The catalogue includes container-filling equipment for pasty and chunky products. Define the container, fill weight and product properties before comparing the filling options.
Preparation and filling do not by themselves define the entire finished-product process. Discuss any cooking, cooling, sealing or other downstream requirements separately, so the equipment proposal addresses the actual product.
Bakery dividing and depositing lines
Bakery applications may need dividing, shaping or depositing. A dough divider separates dough into portions, while a depositor places measured product into a tin, mould or other container. These are different operations, so the product and destination of each portion should be clear at the outset.
The catalogue covers dough dividing, bakery machines and depositing equipment. Start with the dough or batter, portion weight, shape and number of lanes. Then assess how portions leave the machine and move into the next part of your bakery process.
An equipment proposal should also identify existing downstream operations. Proving and baking requirements belong in the discussion, without assuming that a dividing or depositing machine supplies those stages.
Specify the line and test the product
Vemag Australia provides quotations for individual machines and complete production lines. A useful enquiry explains both the product and the process: what enters the line, what should leave it, and which operations already exist.
Prepare a process outline with the sales team. Include ingredient handling, product transfer, access for cleaning, machine changeovers and the intended pack. Ask how each proposed stage connects to the next, rather than treating a list of machines as a finished line specification.
At the Customer Centre, you can test your own raw materials and recipes on machines and discuss the application with the team. Ask which equipment is available for your proposed trial. Testing the relevant operation helps inform selection before investment; availability of a full proposed line should be discussed separately.
- Share your recipe or representative product and the required finished format.
- Provide portion weights, production requirements and the planned packaging format.
- List existing equipment, space constraints and utilities for the proposed location.
- Ask which stages can be demonstrated and what a trial should assess.
Contact
Discuss the stages your product needs
Tell the sales team what you make, how it is packed and which equipment you already use.
- Australia(07) 3829 3868
- New Zealand+64 9 415 0137
- Salessales@vemag.com.au