George’s

In order to increase profits in deboning whole legs, Springdale, AR based George’s Poultry knew they had to significantly reduce their staffing cost and increase pounds per man hour while not sacrificing yield and quality.

In order to validate estimated yield numbers presented by Foodmate, and to verify machine could meet quality standards expected by their customers, George’s management team decided to run a test at the Foodmate facility in Georgia, where a brand new machine was available for testing. With the test results besting their own numbers, George’s realized that the Foodmate OPTI LTD Whole Leg, Thigh & Drumstick Deboning System was the best solution.

Although the total capacity needs called for 3 machines, George’s started the projects by purchasing one machine, to make sure that the equipment performed the same in real production. In July 2014, Foodmate installed the first machine at the George’s further processing plant and it has been in full production since the first day it was installed.

After a few weeks of getting familiar with the equipment and getting it fine tuned, George’s has seen an even better than expected ROI. Although the primary goal was to reduce labor cost, they have also seen a 2% increase in yield.

Due to the system continued successful performance, George’s has ordered 2 additional Foodmate OPTI LTDs. In addition, 3 Foodmate Flex Cut-Up systems with vision grading and weighing capabilities have been ordered. Each cut-up line will include the new Foodmate automated J-Cutting module, installation is scheduled during the first quarter of 2015.

Foodmate is very happy to have delivered this project, exceeding our customer’s expectations. George’s accomplished their goals to increase profits, proofing that deboning whole legs is a viable and profitable market to be in. We look forward to phase 2 of this project which will further reduce labor costs with the installation of the automated J-cutting module into the cut- up lines