WINDHOEK – After some months of rotational slaughter both Meatco’s Windhoek and Okahandja abattoirs have resumed [fulltime] slaughter.
However, system upgrades are currently in progress at the Windhoek abattoir to improve the effectiveness of operations and maximise output in order to cater to growing customer demands. “Because of the demands of the customers and the fact that preferences and specifications are continuously changing, we have to move into the direction which the market is moving. We have installed a new data system and layout in our Windhoek abattoir deboning department, which allows for a lot of value addition to our products. The new system controls the volumes and all the information on the deboning floor and is responsible for the production recons and the labelling of products,” said Meatco’s Windhoek plant manager, Andries Taljaardt. Implementation of the new system started in April this year.
Taljaardt says the deboning floor of the Windhoek abattoir has also been expanded with the new layout. In the past, the Windhoek abattoir could only pass a maximum of 360 carcasses through deboning per day and had only one vacuum and one frozen line. “With the new layout, we have introduced an additional vacuum line and an additional frozen line. With that, we can now put up to 420 carcasses through deboning per day within normal working hours. For May, we are looking to put more than 6 600 carcasses through deboning. In June, once the system is fully implemented, the number of carcasses we want to put through deboning is about 7 000,” he said. The new system will soon be rolled-out to the rest of the abattoir departments before it is installed at the Okahandja plant.
Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of Meatco, Adv Vekuii Rukoro, has noted with great concern a confrontational relationship between Meatco and some producers and some people in the industry clinging to traditional views, who like the way things were done in the past. ”Those days are numbered. We are here to perform our mission as partners of farmers and to do it in harmony with them. Times have changed. What worked 20 years ago, 15 years ago or even five years back, doesn’t work anymore. To remain competitive, we need to act fast, deliver on time and be comprehensive in the new business environment,” he said.
By Staff Reporter