F
Fred de Vos: ‘We wanted to get the deboner up and running as fast as possible as the biggest competitor of Meyn wasn’t sitting still either.’ They ran and tested a competing machine that also generated a great deal of interest. Orders had already been committed, so there was no time to lose. ‘We had to get to work, which is why Manufacturing quickly produced a Rapid unit that was installed and tested at Waldron. What’s more, a busload of Tyson VIPs came to see it in action. They wanted to see the Rapid with their own eyes – and they were immediately impressed’, Fred continues. This visit of led to the first orders for two locations: New Holland (2 units) and Carthage Mississippi (6 units). Many problems at the start The decision to install six new barely tested systems of such a huge size was, in a way, a major gamble. However, they couldn’t wait, because otherwise the competitor would gain ground. ‘That’s why we simply went for it.’ It did not always go smoothly in the beginning. ‘We had problems with toothed belts, encoders that broke down and carriers that seized up. We had to use large hammers to rework them and get everything up and running again. Things weren’t wrapped up with a bow and presented to us – we had to work 24/7 and made a lot of modifications in a very short period of time’, Fred explains. There were planeloads of Meyn employees from all parts of the company flying to the USA. ‘Along with containers full of parts, boxes with product carriers, attachments, springs and pins. You name it.’
History of a game changer The Rapid breast deboner was officially launched on 16 May 2007. However, it all started back in July 2003 with the story of Greg Spencer. In those days, he was the decision maker for new investments for seven Tyson plants. Greg saw a video detailing the advantages of the Rapid and was impressed. Fred de Vos, senior design engineer at Meyn was involved in this project and shares his experiences.
The first machines were everything but a huge success… 82
POULTRY NL 2022
PoultryNL_2022_magazine.indd 82
08-05-2022 13:44
