Case Study

noax Industrial PCs at Ecolait

Stainless Steel 15” Industrial Computers ensure traceability of meat processing

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“Quebecers annually consume seven pounds of veal per capita. Throughout Canada, it is three pounds; in the United States, it is under half a pound,” notes Daniel Carrière, Vice-President and General Manager of production for Ecolait, North America’s major producer of milk-fed veal. This meat is among the most prized in the culinary world. When a calf is born, females head off to

the dairy farm and the males are either raised to maturity to become beef cattle or selected to provide veal. Once they leave their mothers, the veal calves are fed milksupplements from 18 to 20 weeks to produce

meat that is ivory or creamy pink in color, having a fi ne, fi rm, velvety appearance and a delicate fl avor. To ensure profi tability and its reputation in an international marketplace, Ecolait must exercise tight control over every pound of veal among the 13,000 tons of meat the company produces from the 100,000 head of calves slaughtered and processed at their LaPlaine, QU facility.

Satisfying consumers and inspectors

Along with satisfying consumers and restaurants, Ecolait must meet the exacting standards of a number of regulators, including certifi cation by HAACP and CFIA. As part of an active exportbusiness, their veal must pass inspections by a variety of countries. Furthermore, Ecolait complies with both Kosher and Halal dietary laws for Jewish and Muslim consumers respectively. “In North America and around the world,” says Ecolait’s

Vice President of International Sales and Public Relations Arthur Batista, “consumption of veal is some what limited, so our strategy is to go into theinter national market.”With that amount of supervision, Ecolait must make exhaustive use of data to keep everyone happy. “My specialty is veal,” says Carrière, “and when it comes to tracking the huge volume of data we use to protect product quality, my specialist is Grégory Pétrieux.” Grégory is Vice-President of Sales with Epsilia, a fi rm that specializes in processing systems and traceability that have helped operations, such as Ecolait, successfully handle both since 2001.In order to help Ecolait manage that data, Grégory recommended noax S15 industrial touchscreen computers with easy-to-read 15-inch displays.

Computers provide the fi rst line of defense for safety

Food safety has always been a problem in the industry,but in recent years governments have enacted more aggressive regulations. The challenge is having the means to accumulate the necessary data both effi ciently and cost effectively. Although veal is a high quality product, producing it is a low-margin business and costs must be tightly controlled.The computer and software systems needed to monitor and provide this data go through a continuingevolution in response to changing needs and improving technology, and by 2008 both Grégory and Daniel perceived it was time for an upgrade. Ecolait does maintenance and cleaning on the second shift. All components and surfaces used in slaughter and processing are painstakingly cleaned and disinfected. “This step is necessary, but the high-pressure water used during the cleaning shift gave us problems, disabling the computers when it seeped into the housing,” said Daniel.“Of course, we wouldn’t know about the problem until the computers were turned on fi rst thing in the morning.”After doing some research, Grégory determined that noax computers offered the best fi t for Ecolait’s operating environment. Because he specializes in providing solutions for meat processing operations, he is well aware of the conditions under which these machines must operate. “We conducted an on-line search,” Grégory explained, “and found that based on the experience noax had in the foodprocessing industry with companies like Olymel L.P., a Canadian leader in the processing and distributionof pork and poultry, we invited noax to provide us with a demo machine”

noax Industrial PCs at Ecolait Ltee veal processing facility

Tracking the Path to Productivity

“noax units offer much more by having multiple RS232 hookups, two PCI slots and more to choose from.”

Each delivery box is scanned for accuracy of its contents.

“We were pleased,” said Daniel, “and did not want to return to the old technology. With noax computers,we know that when we begin operations in the morning, our computers are ready to go.”

Processing veal and data

The ability to identify each carcass is critical to the process. Immediately following slaughter, a line worker scans an RFID ear tag with a sensor and enters the tag number into the noax computer, asthe carcass passes by on an overhead rail conveyor. Next, the hide is removed, followed by the head and the offal. Because the carcass is now identifi ed with a bar code, the RFID tag remains attached to the hide.The carcass is then split into halves before reaching a weighing station. At a second noax S15 computer, the line worker reads the RFID chip with a scanner and enters the number ID to verify the carcass identity while the weight is being entered. The computer activates a printer to run off a bar code, which is attached to the carcass. Meanwhile, a chromometer connected to the computer takes

a laser scan of the carcass to determine the gradebased on the color of the meat.Ecolait works with Epsilia, to provide a system that tracks the animals as they pass through and eventually out the door. The data collected by the noax computer is coordinated with information accumulated on the calf by the Epsilia system, in real-time via ethernet, providing the ability to pinpoint problems should the need for a product recall ever occur. For this harsh environment, the computers are equipped with the plant-rugged N8B motherboard developed in-house by noax.Furthermore, the Epsilia system is integrated with the Agri-Tracabilite Quebec (ATQ) systemto enable Ecolait to obtain an animal’s certifi edage, essential information for export to certaincountries such as Japan, which needs to know the exact date of birth.The noax PC with its high-contrast 1024 x 768resolution, displays all the data the operatorneeds to see. Thanks to its resistive analogtouch screen, operation is easy even withrubber gloves.

In addition, the noax Steel Series PCs use food-grade, bacteria-resistant, V2A stainless steel enclosures, seamlessly sealed to IP65 (NEMA 4) standards and able to withstand water streams from the cleaning hoses. This design prevents those surprise breakdowns when the line starts up.

Readability leads to accuracy

“Because this information is important, thatcomputer is our tool to ensure that the informationon the product matches what the ATQ system istracking. We appreciate the readability of the noaxtouch screen to maximize our accuracy,” says Daniel.Once the carcass reaches the scale, a veterinarian will identify any diseased or injured portions of the carcass based largely on decolonization and that information is entered into the computer. The carcass enters a cooling tunnel and is then aged for 48 hours before it is cut up to specifi cations provided by Ecolait’s supermarket, food service, and fi ne restaurant customers.The company has added a new packaging conveyor line including a noax computer, also running Epsilia software, that will be used to collect data and print labels that will go on boxes for delivery. “We appreciate the speed of the noax com puters,”notes Daniel, “which en ables us to take full advantage of thereal-time data the Epsilia system captures, so impor-tant decisions throughout the process can be made.” The demand for data in the eat industry will only increase and thanks to noax computers, Ecolait will be able to keep up with it.

From the farm to theplate, traceable

processing at every step.

Whether scaloppini, parmiginiana or wiener schnitzel, veal has been among the most prized ingredients in cooking since ancient times and continues to be a staple in French and Italian cuisines today. With its French heritage, the Canadian province of Quebec is a major consumer of veal. With the help of noax industrial computers, Ecolait Ltee can profi tably provide a quality product both domestically and internationally.

We receive immense savings due to in creased effi ciency and reductions in customer product claims.”

Ecolait ensures traceability while remaining effi cient.

Overview of Components

Hardware: - IPC: Steel S15- Motherboard: noax N8B- Processor: Intel Celeron M 1,0 GHz- Display: 15” TFT SVGA (1024x768 pixels)- Input: Touch screen, hand scanner- Protection standard: IP65 (NEMA 4),

fully enclosed, no external fan

Software:- Computer operating system:

Microsoft Windows XP Professional- Ecolait application software:

Developed in-house by Epsilia

© noax Technologies 2012

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Company profile:

From its founding in 1979, Ecolait Ltee has grown to a $200 million company with 350 employees, making it the largest producer of milk-fed veal in North America, aiming toprovide the highest quality product possible.To achieve this goal, the company specializes in the tight vertical integration of veal husbandry, slaughter and processing. Ecolait strives to raise their animals humanelyand from the moment the calf is acquired, they work tirelessly to have their equipment and facilities inspected, cleaned and sanitized to avoid contamination. Ecolait is fastidious about controlling micro-bacteria contamination, conducting daily tests at every step along the process by employing their own laboratory and research experts. The company has expanded through acquisi-tions, by holding 61% of the market share in veal-hungry Quebec and by producing 50% of its revenue through exports into the United States and International markets. In recognition of the role that Ecolait plays in the Canadian red meat industry with more than $20 billion in annual sales, a $5.4 million dollar invest-ment was made in 2010, enabling it to increase its capacity and enhance their slaughter and processing plant technology.

Specifications and Application

Objectives: Real-time data collection during

meat production Building a traceable database

from the farm to the plate Effi cient order-based

product specifi cations

IPC requirements: High-speed processing for real time

information on the process Function in harsh, demanding

environment, including exposure to cleaning chemicals, extreme temperatures including hot and cold, high humidity

High level of reliability to prevent work stoppages in plant

Protection of components against sanitation procedure

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