Poultry processing meets French quality

BAYLE I PROFILE

90 years ago, Bayle’s founder Jean-Pierre Bayle started a small family business selling chicken plucking equipment to the food industry. Since then, the company’s relentless focus on growth, innovation and product development has kept it at the leading edge of the market and today, it is busier than ever. Dominique Arnaud, Asia Export Manager for Bayle SA, spoke to Richard Hagan about the company’s latest products and how they’re changing the marketplace.

Back in 1932, Jean-Pierre Bayle visited the UK where he saw and purchased a machine that would change the course of his family’s lives.

The machine was the Bingham – a small, dry plucking machine known for its sturdiness and reliability. Upon returning to France, Mr Bayle requested permission to manufacture the machine there. The permission was granted, and suddenly he was in business-building and selling fowl plucking machines for the French food industry before selling it across the continent. And as with any good business story, he started off small and grew organically.

Growth and a revolutionary product

The plucking machine was extremely popular across Europe, but whilst its manufacturing arm was kept busy, the company wasn’t sitting on its haunches. It poured resources into new product development and out of that came its first innovations.

Also in 1932, the business launched the first conveyor line for Foie Gras duck production and then, significantly in 1960, Bayle launched a water plucking system. This new system proved to be a success across Europe and in between a flurry of manufacturing and exports, the Bayle team spent their time attending trade shows to demonstrate it to new clients.

In the 1980s, the company designed and produced a machine that would come to significantly define its future. ‘Le Compact’, or ‘The Compact’ line, was the first ready-to-use slaughterhouse. It proved to be an immediate and ongoing success and to this day, it is one of the company’s most popular products.

Bayle now boasts clients around the world and regularly exports to 75 countries globally, many of which it has official agents in, to provide thorough support to clients.

High-tech facilities

Dominique Arnault, Asia Export Manager at Bayle, explained that the company is perfectly sized for its mission.

“Bayle is what we call a ‘human size’ company,” he said. “We employ about 50 people in France. Our size is one of our trademarks; it means that every customer is a person, not an order number. It’s someone who we know by name because we’ve actually made the effort to go and meet them. That relationship is crucial for us”.

The company’s headquarters, in La Fouillouse, a short drive west of Lyon, is home to a 5,000 sqm factory. Out of the company’s various departments, the highlight is the research and development work carried out by its automation engineering department. That team is responsible for working on new developments such as robotics, which is a particularly important field given that, according to Mr Arnault, fewer and fewer people are willing to work in abattoir environments.

Bayle relies on its highly trained, skilled personnel such as automation specialists, electricians, welders, and hydraulics and pneumatics engineers, to ensure that all of its work can be executed internally without relying on third parties.

“It’s important to us to integrate all of those jobs internally,” Mr Arnault clarified. “Whilst outsourcing them might be more practical and possibly cheaper during good times, in times like today with Covid, with transport problems and supply shortages around the world, being able to do everything ourselves is key.”

The company also has a semi-industrial facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where spare parts and some engineering personnel are based. Clients in the region are additionally able to trade in old Bayle machines at this facility, which its teams there recondition and re-sell to other countries.

A full design department at the Kuala Lumpur office is also always on hand to assist the company’s sales team with designing new systems into client spaces.

Finally, the company has a sales office in Mexico City which ensures that clients and new enquiries in North and South America are adequately cared for.

BAYLE I PROFILE

The compact line

The company’s Le Compact range of poultry processing systems has been a significant commercial success for the company. Following its launch in the 1980s, the system has found customers in more than 85 countries. Le Compact’s claim to fame is that it is the first ready-to-use slaughterhouse to have hit the market and, crucially, it is so compact that it is transportable via shipping container.

The main strengths of the system, which can process up to 1,500 poultry per hour, centre around its compact and ‘plug and play’ nature. It’s simple and economical, as Mr Arnault clarified: “The beauty of Le Compact is the fact that you can just take it out of the container, push it into place, connect water and electricity and it’s ready to use.

Smaller operators are the specific target market for Le Compact, Mr Arnault confirmed.

“The system is a transitional product,” he noted. “It’s a stepping stone from very traditional hand processing, to a modern processing line with high capacity. Its users are able to learn about modern processing without the need for big financial investments.”

Recent project highlights

Mr Arnault emphasised two recent projects the company is especially proud of.

“The first was in Thailand where we supplied a complete line of duck processing for the Bangkok Ranch Group. It’s the biggest duck plant in Southeast Asia and probably one of the most modern in the world. We’ve put fully automatic systems into the plant as well as our new management and control system. The whole factory is run by a tablet computer. It’s the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and one of the first in the world.”

The second installation was noteworthy not because of the equipment that was supplied, or for the process involved, but for the commissioning and installation which, for the company’s first time, all had to be done completely remotely due to Covid travel restrictions.

“We developed a system to remotely guide local staff – who’d never done this before or seen the machine before – to assemble and commission the equipment,” said Mr Arnault. “It was a huge challenge but it was a success. It proved that we could do business overseas remotely, in completely new ways. It’s something we never would’ve imagined being able to do before Covid.”

The Bayle philosophy

As a French company, owned and run by French people, Mr Arnault and his colleagues are proud and passionate about the heritage linked to the business.

“The DNA of our company is based on French know-how and quality, and also knowledge of our customers’ needs and requirements,” he said. “The French are very particular about food quality. It has to be of a high standard – sometimes too high, in my opinion. But it means that we

place a huge emphasis on the quality of our equipment, of our process, and of the product that comes out of the machines that we deliver. That’s very important.”

Mr Arnault concluded our chat with some revealing comments about Bayle’s manufacturing ethos especially with regards to the high quality, robust machinery it supplies.

“Our comprehensive quality control system in our factory ensures that all equipment coming out is perfect for the customer’s environment,” he stated. “In fact, people ask us why our equipment is so strong and robust since some of our equipment has lasted 30 years and is still working. People ask us why we don’t involve ourselves in planned obsolescence for repeat sales. The answer is: it’s not in our DNA. Yes, we could sell more. But it’s not who we are. Quality and durability are what we do.” n