Maple Lodge Farms Ltd® created a plan to grow annual revenue and needed a strategic partner to make it happen. The aggressive approach would increase market share over the next several years. Maple Lodge Farms, Canada’s largest independently owned poultry processor, selected Heat and Control.
To execute the plan and to meet expected new demand, they needed to expand their capacity by automating the manual process of spicing whole birds. The private Brampton, Canada-based company offers a variety of chicken products, including sliced deli, deli roasts, wieners, bacon, frozen products. The spiced birds were an integral component of the growth plan and that product line became their focus. After preliminary testing to refine the process, a Spray Dynamics® system was installed and operational with immediate results and surpassed initial projections.
The seasoning system included a coating drum, Unispense III high volume dry ingredient dispenser, a Scarf Plate dry ingredient feeder, and PLC Controls and Information system for recipe management.
“We have overachieved in the spiced bird coverage and pick-up, a significant reduction in waste and through-put has increased dramatically.” –Kevin Shaw, Maple Lodge Farms Ltd.
Maple Lodge Director of Continuous Improvement, Kevin Shaw, and a team developed a characteristic selection matrix (CSM), as well as utilized a variety of other tools, to determine their key criteria and objectives and selected several companies to submit their proposals. They selected Heat and Control because of their legacy of innovation, complete solution offering, and commitment to support. Maple Lodge Farms added the Spray Dynamics’ whole bird chicken seasoning system that included a USDA polished broken-in flight coating drum (with tube on diamond construction), Unispense III high volume dry ingredient dispenser, a Scarf Plate dry ingredient Feeder and PLC Controls and Information system for recipe management.
“At the completion of the project in August, all objectives and critical criteria had been met and the results overwhelmingly surpassed all expectations,” said Shaw. “We have overachieved in the spiced bird coverage and pick-up, a significant reduction in waste and through-put has increased dramatically.”
The ability to reduce spice waste was a key advantage, and because of the dedicated support after installation and the success of equipment used in the improved process, Maple Lodge is looking again to Heat and Control for their next phase of growth.
