PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
R&J Yorkshire’s Finest Farmers and Butchers are using the Minebea Intec WPL-S weigh price labeller combined with Partner Phoenix software to increase productivity within their business.
Key facts
Meat producers R&J updated their weigh price labeller for a more superior product; the Minebea Intec WPL-S which has increased productivity levels and reduced cleaning time of machinery within their factory.
Application
The weigh price labeller WPL-S offers complete traceability, hygienic design and a 2-year warranty. In combination with the Phoenix software the WPL-S enables customised measurement and labelling results.
Products
– 4 weigh price labeller WPL-S with IP69K 17” touchscreen
Customer benefits
The hygienic design of the WPL-S reduces cleaning and downtime to a minimum. R&J have found the software interface to be particularly user-friendly as well as finding the connections, plug-in connections, IP waterproofing and easy maintenance all impressive features.
Customer
R&J Yorkshire’s Finest Farmers and Butchers was founded in 1978 by Jo and Robert Atkinson. Inspired to build on the solid foundations of their successful livestock business, they began to supply meat directly to friends, neighbours and local families. Since then, the company has grown steadily. In 2017 they doubled the size of their factory to meet the growing demand for Yorkshire’s Finest products.
Project goal and implementation
Weigh price labelling machines are an important part of the meat production process so when R&J Yorkshire’s Finest Farmers and Butchers were introduced to the Minebea Intec WPL-S hardware in combination with Pheonix software, they opted for a quality driven solution that would deliver real results.
Ryan Atkinson, Managing Director of R&J said, “We considered alternative products but decided on the Minebea Intec WPL-S because of the quality, it’s a much superior product to its counterparts because of the design, usability, hygiene, durability and we really preferred the connections and plug-in ports as well as the IP waterproof rating.”
The WPL-S produces labels for a variety of purposes including calculation of price based on weight, calculation of best by date based on product, packaging, fresh or frozen and calculation of cooking time based on product, size and weight. It is highly configurable and customers can choose from a wide variety of components; different screen sizes, printers, scales, scanners, indicators and endless software possibilities.
Ryan continued, “It’s a slicker piece of equipment which speeds up our production and it’s much easier to clean and maintain. The software is great; it allows multiple screens to be open at once, the reporting tools are more user friendly, the in-house label design software offers more scope and the shortcut features saves the operators so much time.”
The WPL-S also offers R&J complete traceability of each product from field to fork to comply with government guidelines.
R&J selected an IP69K 17” touchscreen that can withstand the hardest conditions. The company’s machinery also includes a Minebea Intec flat-bed scale IF suitable for a very wet environment and two indicators Combics. All the equipment enables various measurement results from incoming goods to be captured and bundled into an industrial PC using the Ethernet protocol.
Minebea Intec offers a 24/7 on-site service support meaning production downtimes are kept to an absolute minimum. The individual service level includes, for example, virtual support to resolve issues immediately or a Service engineer on-site the next working day.
“The team at Minebea Intec have gone above and beyond to deliver the project and it worked well; they know our business and what we need and I know that they’re able to deliver,” Ryan Atkinson added.
