Australian Meat Processor Corporation REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFPs) FY

Transcription

1 Australian Meat Processor Corporation REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFPs) FY About AMPC The Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) is the national Research & Development Corporation (RDC) that supports the Red Meat Processing Industry throughout Australia. AMPC s mandate is to invest in and deliver Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) outcomes that enhance the sustainability productivity and profitability of the red meat processing sector. RD&E Program Development In partnership with the Red Meat Processing Industry and the Australian Government, AMPC seeks to fund the delivery of a balanced portfolio of RD&E investments across five key programs. Those programs are: 1. Technology & Processing 2. Environment & Sustainability 3. Food Safety, Product Integrity & Meat Science 4. Implementation, Extension & Education 5. Industry Improvement & Economic Analysis With investments across the above program areas, AMPC is looking to fund: a) Projects that are disruptive or transformative in nature and can deliver opportunities for the red meat processing sector to obtain sustainable competitive advantage. It is likely that these activities will require a range of disciplines and capabilities and extend over several years (i.e. 2-3 years). b) Medium term projects (i.e months) that seek to adapt or enhance existing technologies into new products and processes. Activities might include design, development and prototyping with a demonstrated route to commercialisation. c) Short term (i.e. <6 months) projects that include working partnerships and integration with industry. AMPC will encourage and facilitate industry involvement and provide guidance. d) Projects that demonstrate awareness of processing costs and benefits to enable an assessment of economic, environmental, social, and regulatory impacts. Activities and Outputs required from Providers Research providers will be responsible for activities and outputs such as: a) Assembling internal or external expertise to conduct the work and deliver outcomes. b) Designing scientific studies and methodologies, in consultation with AMPC. 1

2 c) Securing access to research facilities (laboratories, equipment, etc.) and the necessary approvals for the conduct of research & development. d) Developing a comprehensive project plan which includes a detailed methodology and budget and describes the cash and in-kind contributions to the project, and subsequently delivering the research on budget and on time. e) Disseminating key findings from the research to the wider scientific community in a variety of formats, subject to approval by AMPC. f) Preparing progress reports against milestones that detail findings from individual experiments. The milestones are to be agreed with AMPC during the contracting phase of the project. Milestone delivery is a critical metric for AMPC. g) Preparing a comprehensive final report (following approval of a draft by AMPC) detailing the project (methodology, data, analysis & conclusions). h) Preparing communication materials such as scientific papers, conference presentations, information brochures, snapshots, processor talks and trade articles as approved by AMPC. The following pages provide a summary of Request for Proposals (RFPs) associated with each of the above-mentioned programs. Each program is described in terms of its overall objective and the individual streams that constitute that program. Following that overview is a list of RFPs to which providers should respond in the form of a Preliminary Research Proposal (PRP). The PRP Template is available at the links below: To download the PRP form in MS Word, please click here To download the PRP form in PDF, please click here It is recommended that each potential provider contact the relevant AMPC Program Manager (PM) as detailed below for more information regarding individual PRP submissions and to obtain guidance on areas of focus and how to construct the most compelling PRP. AMPC Program RFP Call Manager Phone Technology & Jan 2015 John J.McGuren@ampc.com.au Processing McGuren Environment & Sustainability Jan 2015 Doug McNicholl D.McNicholl@ampc.com.au Food Safety, Product Integrity & Meat Science Jan 2015 Carmella Lee C.Lee@ampc.com.au Implementation, Extension & Education Jan 2015 Justin Roach J.Roach@ampc.com.au Industry Improvement & Economic Analysis Mar 2015 David Lind D.Lind@ampc.com.au

3 PROGRAM 1: TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSING About the Program: The objective of the Technology and Processing Program is to develop processing technologies that improve efficiency, reduce the cost of production and facilitate improved value capture. The program operates across four program streams: Program Stream 1: Increasing Productivity Productivity growth and the ability to respond quickly to changing economic conditions are essential to maintaining industry competitiveness. Innovation and capability development are recognised across industry as underpinning productivity gains. This stream focuses on developing and implementing new products, processes and innovative technological solutions to improve business productivity and sustainability. Program Stream 2: Improved Carcase Measurement This stream focuses on research into the automatic measurement of key carcasses characteristics in-situ and on-line in order to drive automation and increase processing efficiency and productivity. Multiple technologies are currently being investigated for different measurement targets. Many of the objective carcass measurement (OCM) technologies under evaluation have the potential to be used as visioning and sensing devices to drive higher levels of automation. Program Stream 3: New Meat Products The focus of this stream is to align new product innovation with the needs of customers and trading partners. It specifically focuses on assisting industry to identify market opportunities for lower value meat cuts and co-products, as well as developing a capability to access novel markets and value chains and create advanced technologies that maximise value. Program Stream 4: Improved Material Handling Systems The introduction of automated and robotics systems can reduce the number of operators required to perform material handling tasks and can deliver significant productivity gains in improved throughput, reduced product damage and loss, and enhanced product traceability. This stream focuses on building an effective portfolio of R&D investments in product handling. The portfolio consists of analysis and benchmarking of industry needs, identification of technological challenges and development of appropriate solutions. 3

4 Technology & Processing Request for Proposal #15-T01 Automation of Beef, Sheep, Lamb and Goat Slaughter, Dressing, Boning and Cutting Tasks AMPC has identified process automation as a strategic imperative for improving global competiveness in the Australian red meat processing industry. The basis for investing in red meat processing automation is that all participants in the red meat industry benefit from a productive and internationally competitive red meat processing sector given the highly competitive export and domestic human consumption protein market. The main drivers for investing in further improving processing efficiency through automation are: Labour reduction and cost savings (NB the industry faces increasing challenges in attracting and retaining appropriately skilled and affordable labour); Yield and product quality improvement; and Addressing WHS issues (the need to improve WHS conditions in meat processing operations by removing difficult tasks that may cause strain and injuries and to attract a wider pool of workers). Therefore the underlying aim of automation research is to develop innovations that can, or could if conditions change, reduce the cost of achieving the above objectives compared to the alternative which in most instances is labour. AMPC is interested to identify leading global capability in the research, development, application and commercialisation of automation technologies that could be applied to Australian red meat processing. Automation technologies and solutions are sought to all aspects of the manufacturing processes at a livestock slaughtering and processing facility including: Livestock receival (lairage); Stunning/slaughter; Dressing; Chilling/Freezing; Carcase break-up; Picking and packing; Inventory management; Product and process data/information capture and product traceability; Materials handling; and Loading and dispatch of meat products. In addition to identifying R&D and commercial capability already focused on automation specific to meat processing (e.g. in other non-red meat species such as pork and poultry) AMPC is also interested in the potential for industrial automation from other food and non-food manufacturing sectors to port across to red meat processing. AMPC is looking to work with organizations that can either adapt existing technologies for the meat processing sector or develop new technologies that deliver performance improvements over current solutions (i.e. not just discovery research but also industrial research, or a combination of both). 4

5 Sheep, Lamb and Goat For sheep, lamb and goat many individual tasks have been automated although to date adoption rates are quite low (NB we are now starting to see increased levels of adoption for semi-automated and fully integrated automated boning and cutting solutions driven mainly by attractive ROI s underpinned by significant increases in yield recovery, product quality and overall process productivity). AMPC seeks research proposals articulating and demonstrating strategies, pathways and identified R&D steps to deliver a fully integrated automated sheep slaughter and dressing chain and automated boning and cutting solutions to the processing of sheep, lamb and goat. Proposals will need to identify the task(s) and or issue facing industry, opportunity to automate and the process/design/concept that would address this and the methodology and likely uptake in industry should an automated solution be developed and implemented. Projects will need to detail previous work where available/relevant. Beef The situation in beef processing is very different to sheep and lamb with only a single automated solution developed to date. For beef automation it still remains to define an automation strategy and establish R&D priorities. AMPC seeks research proposals form leading global automation design and engineering capabilities to review current practice with regard to the processing of beef and to develop and articulate strategies, pathways and identified R&D steps in support of a new vision to create a pathway to the automation of beef slaughter and to deliver automated boning and cutting solutions to the processing of beef. Projects will need to detail previous work where available/relevant. Request for Proposal #15-T02 Progressing Fundamental Vision and Sensing and Demonstrating the Value of Objective Carcase Measurement to the Australian Red Meat Processing Sector The Australian red meat processing industry works with raw material that is highly variable both in shape and composition. Every carcase is different and the ability to automatically measure key carcase characteristics on-line offers an opportunity to increase processing efficiency and productivity. However this high level of variation means that technologies are required to capture the data and images necessary to adjust cutting lines for automation and to inform processing decisions according to carcase type, product specification and market requirements. Potential benefits of successfully advancing the application of vision and sensing and Objective Carcase Measurement (OCM) to red meat processing include: Ensuring maximum meat and economic yield from each and every carcase; The ability to better meet customer/market requirements; Streamlining of processing and full automation of processing tasks; Automated Grading /Carcase assessment; and The ability to influence livestock quality and price. Currently, there is no single available technology proven to be able to measure all the carcase characteristics required (e.g. fat depth, ultimate ph, dentition, ossification, meat colour, tenderness etc.). However multiple technologies are being investigated for different measurement purposes. Many of the OCM technologies under investigation also have the potential to be used as visioning and sensing devices for automation. 5

6 Technologies either in use or under investigation include: X-ray 2D (and 3D X-ray also known as Computer Tomography (CT) scanning); The use of visible or infra-red wavelength cameras; Video Image Analysis (VIA); Ultrasound (subsurface sensing); Raman Spectra to predict shear force - may also be able to objectively measure other attributes such as colour); Near Infra-Red (NIR) for grading beef and sheep carcases; and Bio-impedance (applied in the measurement of carcase composition). Characteristics that can be measured include skeletal measurements to guide manual or robotic cutting and the objective measurement of meat quality characteristics currently estimated manually or in many instances not measured at all. Projects are sought which support the continued investigation and demonstration of the technical capability and underlying value proposition of the application of specific vision and sensing and OCM technologies to enable processing task automation and/or the on-line capture of key carcase traits, quality and process performance measures. AMPC also encourages and welcomes proposals that demonstrate collaborations and partnerships between two or more providers (and processors) whereby respective capability strengths and existing approaches and solutions may attach or add value to one or more of each other s systems. For example, an automation system developer collaborating with a partner provider to incorporate a scanning based inspection system may make the whole package more attractive, or bring the inspection system cost down because it uses the automation system infrastructure. Request for Proposal #15-T03 Industrial Internet AMPC is interested in exploring potential for the development and application of Industrial Internet approaches to the manipulation of data as automation and visioning and sensing systems increasingly underpin decision making with regard to livestock procurement, processing and marketing (what might be referred to as IT enabled processing). As more data becomes available AMPC is interested to understand how it can be effectively used by the processor collecting it and also up and down the value and supply chain. The red meat processing industry in Australia is based on supply chain configurations increasingly seeking to increase levels of automation from slaughter through to boning and packaging. Individual industrial automated technologies that are used in this production line are often stand-alone and are not integrated into a whole of production line technology that is able to communicate data in real time. AMPC is interested to explore the development, adoption and widespread use of interconnected machines, intelligent analytics and people at work. AMPC believes the industrial internet has the potential to dramatically improve productivity and efficiencies in the production process and throughout the supply chain. Solutions will need to address the integration of automated meat processing machinery with networked sensors and software able to capture data and images relating to key carcase traits, meat quality and process performance measures necessary to inform processing decisions according to carcase type, product specification and customer & market requirements (and to determine optimal cutting lines to enable automation). 6

7 This needs to include investigation of aspects such as machine learning, big data, the Internet Of Things (IOT) and machine-to-machine communication to ingest data from machines, analyze it (in real-time), and use it to adjust operations through network control and management of manufacturing processes and equipment, asset and situation management, dynamic response to product demands, and real-time optimization of manufacturing production by networking machinery, sensors and control systems together. This should also extend to asset management via predictive maintenance, statistical evaluation, and measurements to maximize reliability and the application of smart industrial management systems which can be integrated with systems such as the Smart Grid thereby enabling real-time energy optimization. The ideal solution for AMPC through this research would be the identification of opportunities for industrial internet implementation in meat processing whereby processes within the supply chain govern themselves, with intelligent machines and devices that are able to take corrective actions to ensure everything runs as planned across the entire supply chain (e.g. changes to one part of the chain, automatically trigger changes up and down the supply chain). As this approach is novel for the Australian red meat processing industry a broad view of potential solutions is required. AMPC is particularly interested in the potential for Industrial Internet technologies in other manufacturing sectors to port across to red meat processing. AMPC is looking to work with organisations that can either adapt existing technologies for the meat processing sector or develop new technologies that deliver performance improvements over current solutions (i.e. not just discovery research but also industrial research, or a combination of both). Request for Proposal #15-T04 Value Adding Red meat for table consumption is the major product from a carcase and currently 80 per cent of the total carcase value is derived from just 40 per cent of the carcase weight. The profitability of the red meat industry is critically dependent in deriving extra value from lower-value meat cuts and from the non-meat parts of the animal, such as skins, offal and blood products that make up 60 per cent of the total carcase weight. All parts of the animal contribute to increased revenue per carcase and profit. A product is classified as 'value added' if its raw material has been processed to achieve an increased market value. Value added products have applications in both food and non-food markets. AMPC is interested in exploring potential for the development of new innovative value adding concepts able to significantly transform existing product from improving the eating characteristics and increasing the value of existing cuts and lower value products through to transforming inedible co-products into raw ingredients for other industries. Projects should address new and cost effective methods of transforming traditionally low value parts of the carcase into products that meet consumer needs, attract higher prices and help the red meat industry capture more value per head of animal. Request for Proposal #15-T05 Innovative Intelligent and Active Functional Packaging Meat packaging is shifting from its traditional application as an inert barrier against contaminants to encompass complementary functions to improve product quality and longevity. Polymers are the most common packaging material due to their range of desirable properties, transparency, low cost, good mechanical properties and controllable permeability. However these packaging materials are not totally recyclable or biodegradable. Intelligent packaging refers to meat packaging which 7

8 monitor and report indicators of meat quality and spoilage, whilst active packaging includes functional meat packaging that directly counters meat spoilage and aims at enhancing quality. AMPC is interested in exploring potential for the development of new innovative packaging technologies and systems that can monitor and maintain packaging environments to deliver extended shelf life of fresh meat products, improved packaging integrity, enhanced product presentation, quality and traceability. Approaches could include packaging able to evaluate and communicate product quality attributes such as ph, temperature, package atmospheric concentrations and using antimicrobial agents, packaging inserts and modified atmosphere packaging to counter oxidation and microbial spoilage. Request for Proposal #15-T06 Materials Handling and Pick and Pack Materials handling tasks including, the handling and load out of half and whole carcases, picking and packing of post boned & sliced product (e.g. primals, sub-primals & shelf ready portioned) and cartoned meat represents an area of significant cost and WHS focus to red meat processing businesses. Meat processing facilities incur significant labour costs with the manual picking and packing of primal cuts and trims. Primal cut picking and packing, for example, is currently a labour intensive and completely manual step in the meat packing process. This step requires operators to transfer cuts of meat from the in-feed conveyor to the appropriate carton for storage or dispatch. This step can involve lifting primal cuts of up to 5kg, placing strain on the operator s body and leading to stress related injuries. The introduction of automated robotic solutions may significantly reduce operators required to perform the picking and packing operation, allow for real time performance feedback of boning and slicing operations and present significant economic savings. For areas where commercial solutions currently exist proposals will need to clearly demonstrate how the proposed work will achieve one or more of the following Research, Development & Extension outcomes for red meat processors: acquire new knowledge not currently available; create new innovative concepts, designs, systems, technologies or processes; and adapt existing technologies to Australian red meat processing where significant R&D risk exists. Proposed solutions will need to demonstrate how they will account for the following: True cost of production impacts (e.g. productivity, yield, capital, labour, recruitment, regulatory, quality, food safety, market access, infrastructure (e.g. retrofitting), WHS, training, capability, change management); Integration of new technology/solutions (and/or adaptation/adoption of existing technology/solutions) into existing business structures, systems and processes including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to ensure optimised material flow, inventory management and efficiency gains are achievable; Process and production speeds; Product inspection (e.g. pre-lidding); Product traceability, information and data collection and management (e.g. correct product identification for each cut/carton/stock keeping unit (SKU)); 8

9 Design of existing rooms/infrastructure/processes to allow system/automation installation and successful integration (e.g. number of products placed into cartons, dividers placed into cartons); The number of products which can be handled/packed using the same piece of equipment; and Variation in product consistency (including: length; shape and rigidity; variation in cut weight). Request for Proposal #15-T07 Bandsaw Risk Mitigation and Bandsaw Replacement Band-saw operations remain extensively manual and difficult to manage in the meat industry due to the associated risks. The primary break up of meat carcases involves considerable interactions with sharp power tools and commonly, the application of band-saws. The operation of a bandsaw is notoriously difficult to manage given its repetitious nature. Benchmarks relating to yield and efficiency impacts have been described as well as aspects of guarding, use of jigs and other adaptations to bandsaws in operation. Previous studies have also accounted for existing investments in more advanced technologies such as bladestop and other engineered solutions that may need further research, development and engineering for their long term and sustainable use. AMPC is calling for R&D proposals aimed at minimising injury risks from bandsaws, reducing bandsaw use or eliminating the need for the bandsaw altogether for specific tasks. It is considered that approaches to addressing identified issues and opportunities in relation to bandsaw use can be described under the following categories: 1. Best practice (e.g. Optimised work flow and process/training/awareness/alertness) 2. Protective devices (e.g. Blade stop/protective gloves) 3. Jigs and Fixture (NB A range of these have been developed, trialed and implemented) 4. Semi automation 5. Automation (e.g. ROC system, Leap system) Project concepts are therefore sought which examine opportunities to eliminate bandsaws using one or more of the approaches outlined above and which address the following: Identify the task and/or bandsaw related issue associated with the particular task; Describe the specific opportunity to automate/redesign/provide manual assistance and/or introduce another process to make the task safer; Outline the process/design/concept that would address this and the methodology; and Outline the likely uptake in industry should a solution be developed and implemented. Projects will need to detail previous work where available/relevant. Request for Proposal #15-T08 Manual Assist and Manual Handling Improvements Currently, there are a range of technologies, processes and practices that are being developed, implemented and directed at improving efficiency and labour output in the red meat processing industry (including automated, semi-automated and manual assist solutions to a range of processing tasks). 9

10 Manual Assist Devices are semi-automated devices that are designed to interact very closely with human operators, as opposed to the classical type of industrial robot that does things automatically, with little human intervention. Existing manual assist devices (either commercially available or under development) offer differing levels of complexity and cost. When manual assist devices are used, meat processing workers should be able to work more efficiently, so the process can progress faster and the worker should be able to carry out precision tasks more effectively. AMPC seeks project proposals to identify opportunities for the design, development and trialing of new manual assist technology solutions and in support of the further development, adaptation, adoption and wider application of existing manual assist devices. Request for Proposal #15-T09 New Cutting Technologies Currently, all the cutting, both in slaughtering and boning rooms in the red meat processing industry uses metal as the cutting element offering both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages: Disadvantages: Inexpensive Plenty of suppliers One tool may suit many tasks Easy to use Easy to replace Physical contact metal-meat: proper access is required Needs sharpening and/or replacement Needs sterilisation Yield loss due to sawdust, operator fatigue and variable knife sharpness All cutting tools in the meat industry require sterilisation between carcases with 82 C hot water. This process requires a considerable amount of water and energy. The application of alternative cutting technologies offers an opportunity to remove the metal element in cutting tools and substituting it with a different material, process or procedure and in doing so potentially addressing some of the disadvantages listed above. It is also envisaged that the automation of certain tasks, particularly those requiring multiple tools or complex sensing for cutting, may be possible only if alternative cutting technologies are developed. As more and more tasks are automated processing efficiencies gained through the ability to cut meat with consistently high accuracy, without sawdust or the need to sharpen cutting surfaces could become important factors in strengthening the economic case for choosing automated options over manual methods. Potential alternative cutting technologies could include: Air seam separation; Ice cutting; Water jet cutting; Gas cutting; Laser; Ultrasonics; Chemical; and Electro-thermal. Some of the alternative cutting technologies listed above have been investigated previously and were shown at the time to have major limitations for their application in red meat processing (e.g. heat damage to product, excessive water use, negative impacts on product quality and shelf life etc.). However AMPC is interested to receive proposals which demonstrate an understanding of known challenges and limitations to the application of alternative cutting technologies to meat processing and which provide concepts and designs which seek to: 10

11 Identify new alternative cutting technologies not listed above and conceptualise and investigate their application to meat processing; Identify and mitigate or overcome known challenges and limitations to alternative cutting technologies; Apply alternative cutting technologies to specific tasks where known challenges and limitations might be perceived as adding value over conventional methods (e.g. benefits of cauterisation for dirty cuts, application of water/ice jet cuts where water might act as a medium for physical or chemical decontamination); and Articulate and map out a role for new cutting technologies as a complimentary enabling technology in support of eroding barriers to the development and commercial adoption of automation into the future in areas of high challenge such as beef slaughter, dressing, boning and cutting automation. Request for Proposal #15-T10 Innovative Race and Knocking Box Design Concepts to Optimise Animal Welfare and Carcase Quality Livestock movement along the race and through the knocking box are critical productivity and quality control points in red meat processing process flow. The design and operation of both the race and the knocking box should consider a range of factors known to affect the movement and animal welfare of livestock (e.g. lighting, shadows, gaps or cracks, tread, line of sight, positioning of the handlers and operators, effective restraint etc.) and seek to reflect best practice in this regard. AMPC seeks project proposals providing innovative concepts in the design, development and trialing of livestock races and knocking boxes which could deliver improved operational outcomes with regard to reducing stress on the livestock, animal welfare and ultimately carcase quality. NB AMPC is not seeking proposals on the stunning of livestock as part of this research topic. 11