Livestock processing company Northern Co-operative Meat Company Ltd (NCMC) plans to upgrade and expand its plant to help it capitalise on growing demand for premium Australian meat.
The NCMC has asked Brisbane-based food facilities designer Wiley to help them with the four-stage project set to run throughout 2016.
Wiley will design and build a new state-of-the-art cold chain management facility, beef knocking box and race system, steam repair and relocation, and facilitate the Tannery wastewater treatment plant upgrade.
NCMC CEO Simon Stahl said the main focus was to provide the 100-plus livestock processors who use the company's Casino facilities with efficient facilities using a trained workforce and specialised equipment.
The plan is to service Australia, the US, China, Japan, Korea and the European Union, as well as Halal and organic markets.
“We chose Wiley to undertake the design and construction because we are confident in its specialist knowledge of the demanding standards of food safety and hygiene, especially in meat and across the cold chain production line,” Stahl said.
“The knocking box and race system is a pivotal part of our abattoir and will set the rhythm for the rest of the facility.
“Wiley has experience in designing to international standards of animal welfare, and this design complied with design principles created by US animal welfare expert Dr Temple Grandin.”
Wiley's team has worked closely with the NCMC over the last few years to understand the requirements of each project.
For its new cold chain management facility, NCMC wanted to freeze and chill all beef and veal cartons onsite, reduce the transportation of products offsite, and improve staff and product flows throughout the facility.
Wiley came up with a design which improves carton management, increases storage capacity on site and improves load-out capabilities – reducing manual handling, forklift movements, and creating a safer environment for all workers.
NCMC will also install an ASRS automated sortation and retrieval system, which is the first of its kind used in a frozen environment in Australia and only the second in the world. This system provides NCMC with the ability to better manage product flow and traceability.
