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Product category: Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment
News Release from: Marco | Subject: Weighing equipment
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 27 March 2001

Weighing equipment chosen by meat market

The weighing equipment at Smithfield Market is robust, easy to use, reliable, accurate and cost effective and is designed to provide full traceability for all produce entering and leaving the market

Smithfield Market is one of the oldest in the network of markets that are the City of London's lifeblood Meat, both on and off the hoof, has been bought and sold at Smithfield for over 800 years and approximately 85,000 tonnes of produce pass through the market each year

Bargaining between buyers and sellers sets the guidelines for meat and poultry prices throughout the UK and a wide variety of products are available including meat, poultry, game, cheeses, pies and delicatessen goods.

Buyers, including butchers, restauranteurs and caterers are able to see the goods for themselves, make their choice, and then drive away with their purchases.

Until recently, the market had retained much of its Dickensian past.

Unfortunately not only did this include the 'olde worlde' charm from this period but also the highly questionable hygiene standards and working practices.

However, this has now changed dramatically and the market has been transformed at a cost of in excess of £70 million to equip it to face the new millennium and comply with current exacting hygiene and food safety standards, heightened by the beef crisis.

The challenge has been enormous, involving the creation of a modern temperature controlled environment within the confines of magnificent Grade II listed Victorian buildings.

The process of change at Smithfield has not been restricted to the building alone.

The whole working environment has had to be transformed and people's lifelong habits and practices, that had changed little over the past 100 years, have had to change almost overnight.

In its heyday, the original layout of Smithfield comprised an East and West market.

These two wings were home to a total of 162 independent stalls, which were open on most sides and therefore highly accessible to customers.

The refurbished market now accommodates 44 units which have been tailored, where possible, to meet individual tenants requirements.

The units are divided into a number of temperature-controlled areas depending whether they are a boxed or carcass trader.

Customers are able to walk along the central buyer's avenues, choosing from the goods on display.

If they want to take a closer look inside the shop, then they too have to comply with hygiene regulations by wearing the appropriate protective clothing.

The procedure for dealing with incoming meat has changed beyond recognition.

Gone are the days when the lorries pulled up at any available gate and the meat then manhandled, exposed to the elements, by any number of workers.

Now the lorries back into special sealed loading bays, which protect the meat from outside contamination.

Carcasses are then loaded onto a semi-automatic overhead track system and delivered directly to the trader's shop.

Boxed goods are delivered into temperature controlled service corridors which run either side of both East and West buildings and transported to tenants' chillers or freezers depending on the product.

Fundamental to the whole market area is accurate and reliable weighing, together with inventory control and produce traceability- from meat arrival through to point of sale.

It was clear that the new market needed a completely fresh approach to the design and operation of the weighing equipment and integrating current scales with the necessary new equipment was not feasible.

The stallholders are independent traders and are, therefore, effectively 'free' to choose their own scales and equipment.

However, Murray Hilborne, Technical Director of specialist supplier Marco Weighing Systems was convinced that an integrated approach would provide the best overall solution.

Marco Weighing Systems is a small, dynamic company which has built an enviable reputation designing and supplying bespoke weighing and control solutions for industry.

Their success is based on a remarkably simple approach.

They spend as much time as necessary discussing the requirements with the customer's key personnel -from operators on the shop floor through to senior management.

All their systems are based on a modular concept and Marco are adamant that they will not cut corners, which may jeopardise the functionality and reliability of a particular system.

However, never before had the company had to convince 44 independent traders, more used to selling their wares rather than buying, that they should purchase Marco equipment.

Murray Hilborne was undeterred by this challenge and the first thing that Marco did was to address all the traders collectively at one of the Smithfield Tenants Association meetings.

Here at an open forum, they laid out preliminary proposals and explained the all-important new international weights and measures legislation.

After this, considerable time was spent both individually and collectively with each tenant to fully understand their practical and financial needs.

The underlying factors were that the equipment needed to be robust, easy to use, reliable, accurate and cost effective.

The weighing equipment at Smithfield meets all these requirements and is designed to provide full traceability for all the produce entering and leaving the market.

There are 50 overhead track scales for weighing and recording details of incoming carcasses including product details, supplier information as well as weight.

All data is transferred through to the central administration offices.

Floor scales are fitted at the back of each stall, which are used for weighing 'butcher boy' containers and pallet trucks as product is carried in and out.

Special consideration had to be given to the design of these scales so that they could withstand the additional weight of passing forklift trucks without damaging them.

Each tenant also has between three and six, half or full height, carcass scales at the back of their stall.

Completing the installation in the front are 'Ready Money' counter scales together with Marco LabelMaster case end labelling systems.

All the scales meet the latest European regulations for 'legal for trade' weighing.

As part of their BS EN ISO 9000 certification, Marco are certified for self verification, which means that they can verify and stamp all the scales without the added inconvenience of using outside authorities.

This is particularly important when scales need verifying after any repairs.

Even though Marco carries out this verification, they have worked closely with local Trading Standards at Islington throughout.

Food safety and quality are an essential part of the new markets and all scales are constructed from high-grade stainless steel with the ability to withstand the necessary wash down and cleaning procedures.

Reliability is another important feature especially in such harsh operating conditions.

Marco operates a highly effective maintenance service.

Their 'AssistCall' programme provides full service support throughout the year and all the tenants have realised the advantages of this and have taken out contracts.

This has allowed Marco to pass on the resulting economies of scale to the clients.

Following on from their successes in the East and West markets, Marco has also recently completed installations in the newly refurbished Poultry Market.

As Murray Hilborne concludes, "We were successful at Smithfield as the direct result of communicating with our customers throughout the project.

Our attention to detail combined with well-designed equipment has provided tenants with the latest weighing technology, which has plenty of scope for future expansion.

They have yet to utilise all the facilities offered.

For example, in the future, full bar coding will be added to streamline product traceability and price labelling.".

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