Michigan Brand, a Michigan-based business specializing in jerky and meat production, operates plants in Bay City and Frankenmuth. To streamline operations and enhance productivity, Michigan Brand partnered with Mission Design & Automation to develop a highly efficient automation system tailored to their unique needs.
The Challenge: Automating Meat Handling for Maximum Efficiency
Michigan Brand sought to increase productivity in their meat processing line by automating the identification and placement of raw meat pieces onto trays, preparing them for final food processing. The task required a vision system capable of accurately identifying, measuring, and picking pieces of meat from a continuously moving conveyor.
However, no off-the-shelf solution met these requirements. Since Mission Design & Automation is known for our expertise in developing custom automation solutions, our collaboration with Michigan Brand was a natural fit.
The Custom Solution: HALCON-Based Vision System
Mission Design & Automation rose to the challenge, designing a completely custom vision system powered by HALCON technology. This innovative system allowed for precise identification, skeletonization, measurement, and robotic picking of individual meat pieces as they moved along the conveyor. The result? Seamless integration of vision and automation, optimized for continuous, high-speed operation.
Key features of this custom system included:
- FANUC line-tracking integration: The conveyor never stops, and robots can pick meat on the fly.
- Duplicate detection: Ensures only the optimal image is used for picking if multiple images are captured of the same piece.
- First-in, first-out queue: Ensures that if the first robot misses a piece of meat, the next robot in line can still pick it.
Collaborative Innovation: Working with SpinDance
Mission collaborated with SpinDance, a software development company based in Holland, Michigan, to create a custom vision
application. By combining Mission’s automation expertise with SpinDance’s software capabilities, the system was engineered for precision and reliability.
The Results: Increased Productivity and Efficiency
The resulting vision capabilities allow the cell to accurately pick and place meat, streamlining the process of meat handling with high accuracy.
At Mission Design & Automation, we’re proud to have partnered with Michigan Brand to develop a solution that embodies our commitment to innovation and automation excellence. By leveraging our team’s experience in custom automation, we’ve helped improve Michigan Brand’s productivity, and we’re excited to continue supporting businesses in optimizing their production processes.