On-site Planning
Installation & Commissioning
Automated & Energy Efficient
Client Name: M****L Fleischwaren GmbH & Co. KG
Country: Federal Republic of Germany
Region: Bavaria – a core traditional meat processing area in Europe
Core Products: Various western-style sausage slices (cooked sausage, smoked sausage, salami, breakfast sausage, etc.) for ready-to-eat packaging, pizza toppings, and foodservice channels
Equipment Configuration: Hadof custom high-speed sausage slicing line (including automatic feeding system, high-precision rotary slicing unit, intelligent spreading, and metal detection module)
Commissioning Date: Q1 2020
Bavaria, Germany, has a long tradition of meat processing. M****L, a well-known family business in the region, has focused on sausage production for three generations, supplying the German domestic market and neighboring countries such as Austria and Switzerland. With the surge in demand for ready-to-eat products in supermarkets, traditional manual slicing had become a major bottleneck to the company's growth.
Key challenges in sausage slicing:
Severe capacity bottleneck: During peak seasons, over 20 tons of sausage needed to be processed daily. Manual slicing required more than 80 skilled workers in shifts, yet order deadlines could still not be met, leading to customer attrition risk.
Poor slice uniformity: Manual slicing resulted in thickness deviations of ±1.5mm, severely affecting the appearance of ready-to-eat packaging and the end consumer experience. Rejection rates from high-end supermarkets reached as high as 8%.
Difficulty meeting hygiene standards: Multiple manual handling steps made microbial control difficult, failing to meet the stringent requirements of German food law and IFS international food standards for ready-to-eat products.
Significant product loss: Trimmings and crumbs from irregular slicing accounted for over 10% of raw material, directly squeezing profit margins, especially for high-value products like salami.
Hadof's team tailored a fully automatic slicing line for M****L, taking into account the characteristics of sausages (soft texture, high fat content, various shapes):
1. Intelligent Feeding and Continuous Infeed System
Combining vision recognition and servo control, the system automatically identifies the diameter and length of different sausage specifications, enabling precise positioning and continuous feeding without manual assistance. Changeover time was reduced to 5 minutes.
2. High-Precision Rotary Slicing Unit
The blades are made of super-hard alloy steel with specially polished edges. Together with a precise pressure control system, they achieve stepless thickness adjustment from 0.5mm to 5mm, with slice thickness deviation controlled within ±0.2mm. Cutting speed and feed rate are precisely coordinated to ensure flat, non-stick slices, especially suitable for high-fat sausages.
3. Intelligent Spreading and Automatic Packaging Integration
Sliced products are conveyed via a high-speed belt to the spreading unit, where they are automatically stacked or arranged according to the preset layer count, directly feeding the packaging machine. This enables fully automated raw material-to-packaging processing. The line includes online metal detection and weight check systems, automatically rejecting non-conforming products.
4. Hygienic Design and Easy-Clean Structure
The entire line features a fully enclosed 304 stainless steel structure with smooth, dead?angle?free contact surfaces, supporting high?pressure water washing and CIP in?place cleaning, meeting the highest meat processing hygiene standards in the EU. Key components are quick?release for easy maintenance.
Client Testimonial: From Regional Brand to Core European Supply Chain Member
Since the new line began operation in 2020, M****L has achieved a remarkable transformation:
Capacity & Efficiency
Daily throughput: Increased from less than 5 tons with manual slicing to 25 tons per shift, reaching up to 40 tons per day, making the company a key supplier of ready?to?eat sausage slices in Bavaria.
Labor optimization: The slicing workforce was reduced from 85 to 6 skilled technicians, cutting labor costs by 90% and solving labor shortage issues.
Quality & Market
Product qualification rate: Slice thickness consistency reached over 99%, crumb rate dropped to below 2%, resulting in a refined product appearance and reducing high?end supermarket rejection rates to 0.5%.
Market expansion: Achieved IFS and BRC highest?level certifications, successfully entering the ready?to?eat product shelves of major German supermarket chains such as REWE and EDEKA, with exports extended to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
Overall Benefits
Raw material utilization: Precision slicing and automatic sorting increased overall utilization from 88% to 97%, saving over �300,000 annually in raw material costs.
Energy optimization: The line uses high?efficiency servo motors and intelligent energy?saving modes, reducing electricity consumption per unit output by 25% compared to traditional separate equipment, earning a special energy?saving technology subsidy from the state of Bavaria.
"Hadof's sausage slicing line has truly enabled us to achieve the precision and efficiency that 'Made in Germany' stands for. Now, every slice of sausage appears before consumers with perfect thickness and shape, making our products more competitive on supermarket shelves. This was a worthwhile investment."
—— M****L Fleischwaren, Production Director Mr. Wagner
