Ovine Automation has designed and developed two robots, which would bring about radical changes in the automated sheep meat processing industry. The research was given financial aid by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the nine members of the industry.
Two research organisations also extended their support for research. The automation of meat processing would improve the productivity and the quality of processing. Richard McColl, manager of Ovine Consortium, explained that the robots are customized to suit the sheep meat processing chains in New Zealand and were developed to address the direct needs of the industry. McColl further added that their industry partners are supportive of implementing advanced engineering solutions for automation in sheep meat processing. He stated that as members of the consortium they have extended their support towards the research work. He was of the opinion that the robotic system could be extended for applications other than sheep meat processing as well.
The members of the consortium are the Alliance Group , Crusader Meats, Silver Fern Farms, Blue Sky Meats, ANZCO Foods, Auckland Meat Processors, Taylor Preston ,Ovation New Zealand and Progressive Meats. The research organisations associated with the consortium are RealCold Millers mechanical and Industrial Research.