Meat plants use robots for cutting, portioning, supporting deboning lines, loading trays and packing finished product. The first question for any robot near meat is hygiene. Food contact and washdown ratings vary by model, and a standard industrial arm is not food grade unless its data sheet says so. Confirm the rating before anything else.
Where Robots Work in a Meat Plant
The jobs split by how close the robot gets to raw product:
- Cutting and portioning. The robot handles or cuts raw product. This is the hardest spot for hygiene and the one with the strictest requirements.
- Deboning support. Robots position, hold or move product for the people and machines doing the cut.
- Tray loading. Picking portions and placing them in trays, often with vision to find each piece. Our post on robotic vision applications covers how that works.
- Packaging. Case packing, labeling and moving sealed packages. Our packaging robots guide goes through it.
- End of line. Stacking cases on pallets. See our post on palletizing robots.
Our listings for the FANUC M-710iC/50, FANUC LR Mate 200iD/7L, ABB IRB 1200, the ABB IRB 2400/16 cell and the KUKA KR 100-2 HA name meat processing among their applications. That tells you the model is used in the industry. It does not tell you a given unit is rated for food contact or washdown, so check the data sheet for the job you have in mind.
Food Grade Is a Rating, Not a Description
A food grade robot is built for it: the finish, the seals, the lubricant and the covers are chosen so the arm can be near food and stand up to washdown with water and cleaning chemicals. Our post on food grade robots explains what changes, and our post on the FANUC M-10iD/12 food grade robot shows one example.
If the listing or the data sheet does not say food grade or washdown rated, treat the robot as a standard industrial arm. A standard arm can still work in a meat plant, but in the right zone and with the right protection, and that call belongs to your plant's food safety plan.
Raw Product Zone vs Packaged Product Zone
Once product is sealed in a tray or bag, the robot is handling a package, not meat. Requirements in packaging and palletizing areas are usually different from the cutting floor, and that is where many standard arms end up. Ask your food safety team which zone the robot will sit in before you pick a model. The answer may change the whole list.
Sizing the Robot
Size payload from the heaviest thing on the wrist: the portion or the case, plus the gripper. Grippers for meat are often vacuum, needle or fork style, and our post on end of arm tooling covers the general types.
- Light portions and trays. The LR Mate 200iD/7L data sheet lists 7 kg with 911 mm of reach. The ABB IRB 1200 data sheet lists 5 kg with 901 mm of reach.
- Cases and heavier handling. The M-710iC/50 data sheet lists 50 kg with 2,050 mm of reach.
- Heavy product. Larger arms like the KUKA KR 100-2 HA cover the heavy end. Our KUKA KR series guide covers the line.
For more on matching an arm to a picking job, see our pick and place robots guide and our post on material handling robots.
Cold, Wet and Washed Down
Meat plants run cold, and many areas get washed down every shift. Check the data sheet for the operating temperature range and the protection rating of the arm, and plan for condensation when the robot moves between cold and warm areas. Keep the controller cabinet out of the wet area and confirm the robot cable sets are long enough to reach it. Our post on cable management covers routing hoses and cables on the arm.
What to Check Before You Buy
- The rating. Food grade, washdown and protection ratings, confirmed on the data sheet for that exact model.
- Controller. ABB buyers should read our guide to the ABB IRC5 controller. FANUC buyers should read our FANUC robot controllers guide.
- Pendant and cables. Ask what comes with the robot before you plan the cell.
- Freight. Everything ships FOB Imlay City, Michigan, and the buyer arranges freight.
Robots We Carry for Meat Processing Jobs
- FANUC LR Mate 200iD/7L: 7 kg payload, 911 mm reach, R30iB
- ABB IRB 1200: 5 kg payload, 901 mm reach, IRC5
- FANUC M-710iC/50: 50 kg payload, 2,050 mm reach, R-30iB
- ABB IRB 2400/16 cell: IRC5 controller, 2007
- KUKA KR 100-2 HA: KRC2 controller, 2008
The rest of our stock is on our used FANUC robots, used ABB robots and used KUKA robots pages.
Related Guides
Closing or Updating a Plant?
We buy robots out of food plants and every other kind of plant, one unit or the whole floor. Start with our sell your equipment page, or ask about robot appraisals before you decide. If you are buying, look at our equipment financing page.
For details on a model, call 586-752-0090, extension 1 for sales, or reach our sales team.