JBT Marel Equips Zhonghong Sanrong’s Fifth 15,000 BPH Poultry Plant

Zhonghong Sanrong decided the time was right to build a 15,000 bph [250 bpm] greenfield facility. The management is committed to a long-term strategy that remains stable in the face of short-term fluctuations. With the purchasing power of Chinese consumers continuing to grow, long-term demand for chicken meat is expected to stay strong.

Evisceration operations
The new plant in Chengde is designed to process 15,000 bph [250 bpm] on a single automated line. Zhonghong Sanrong’s management has given special attention to optimizing the evisceration process. First of all, a LineLink DE transfer unit takes the carcasses from the defeathering line to the evisceration line. This line has a JBT Marel Sigma overhead conveyor equipped with Active Tension Control (ATC) to precisely control and monitor both speed and chain tension. The VC-20 and VO-20 carousel machines handle the initial operations. The Nuova 24 then carefully and hygienically extracts the viscera pack, automatically rehanging it to a separate pack shackle line. A NIC24 neck skin inspection machine completes the process. Giblets, nearly all destined for human consumption, are harvested manually.




Popularity of cut pieces
Due to the growing demand among Chinese consumers for cut chicken pieces rather than whole birds, Zhonghong Sanrong decided to invest in an advanced cut-up and deboning process. The factory plans to allocate up to 10% of its production to whole birds and 90% to cut-up products—a remarkably high ratio for China. To meet this demand, Zhonghong Sanrong uses a SmartWeigher directing products to two ACM-NT lines for precise cut-up into wings, breasts, and legs. The new WingMaster module does the typical anatomic Asian mid-wing cut, ensuring a substantial ‘skin flap’ is taken from the first joint, which is very important in the rather tradition-focused Chinese market. Breast caps are forwarded to four AMF-i breast meat deboning systems, which produce fillets and tenderloins.

Zhonghong Sanrong places a high priority on production control of the whole process and on the traceability of product quality. JBT Marel Production Distribution Software (PDS) is set to play a crucial role in this.

www.marel.com