History of a game changer

FFred 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 History of a game changerWaldron. 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.’

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.

‘Anything to declare?’

‘When one of our young mechanics went to the USA for the fi rst time, he had countless boxes of parts to take with him.’ Unfortunately, those boxes ripped open on the luggage belt on arrival, and the parts ended up scattered between the suitcases. As the young mechanic tried to retrieve everything, a customs offi cer approached him and asked: ‘Anything to declare?’

Dutch pragmatics, Dutch success

Due to the performance parameters not being clearly defi ned, the Rapid was ultimately unable to meet Tyson’s expectations. The project was not successful, and all six Rapids were returned. The whole project almost led to a bankruptcy of Meyn. However, the decision to embark on this adventure with Tyson meant that the Rapid project continued to have legs and wasn’t shut down prematurely. ‘In the end, it brought us a great deal of success’, concludes Fred.

500 units sold

Today, the Rapid Plus is the most advanced unit available. It has a modular design, can process 7,000 breast caps or breasts with backs per hour, removes back meat, processes full or half chicken fi llets, and can be confi gured to handle tenderloin. In 2018, the 300th unit was sold to the US company Perdue. In 2022, the 500th was sold by our Friesian salesman Aize Land, produced in Oostzaan under the supervision of Marco Koning (son of one of the Meyn founders) and installed at Salisbury, UK. It is expected that the Rapid will continue to be successful for a long time to come.

Fred de Vos, senior design engineer at Meyn.

The adventure brought – in the end – a great deal of success