T&E Meats is in the health business: creatinghealthy customers, healthy regional farmers,healthy workers, and a healthy food communityby connecting local farmers to local eaters,retaining food dollars in our local communities,providing a safe, healthy, and affordable foodsupply, and healing the earth by promotingecologically sound farming practices.T&E is recognized around the state as a uniqueresource in the local food community, workingwith Virginia farmers to promote the availabilityof a healthy grass-based red meat supply, whileat the same time educating and providingcustomers with the highest quality professionalprocessing and packing services.

What issue or pain point needed to be addressed?

T&E Meats approached Carlisle Technology because their farmer-partners were struggling with two basic problems:

• Lack of modern packaging with traceability technology
• Lack of knowledge regarding production efficienciesThe goal of the project was to improve T&E Meats’ service offerings by providing a complete plant traceability system with detailed yield reporting.

Why did they have this problem?

The small meat plant industry, in general, is slow to adopt new technology. There are many reasons for this, but in order to accomplish T&E’s goals they needed to implement modern plant technology. Cost can also be a factor for small processors. Modern packaging and traceability systems are expensive and can require extensive training, which prohibited T&E Meats from being able to make this investment prior to receiving a grant from the USDA.

What were the client’s expected outcomes from working with a vendor?

T&E Meats had two expected outcomes from this project. First, by taking on this new system T&E Meats had a goal of providing their customers the level of traceability required by large food retailers and distributors. The strength of the ‘local food movement’ is causing large food retailers to approach local farmers about carrying their products. However, these large retailers have strict traceability requirements that can create a barrier between the local farmers/producers and the food retailers. T&E Meats’ goal of breaching that barrier and providing an avenue for their customers to access those large retail opportunities was made possible by adopting Carlisle’s Symphony Plant Software. Secondly, in order to give their customers a better understanding of their production costs and efficiencies, T&E Meats also wanted to provide better yield reporting to their customers.

Why did they engage Carlisle Technology to help?

T&E Meats decided to engage Carlisle Technology for three main reasons:

• Solution: Carlisle Technology’s robust plant-floor solution that has been designed to operate in the harshest conditions.
• Experience: Carlisle Technology has been serving the food industry for 30+ years. T&E Meats liked Carlisle’s level of experience, plant knowledge, and willingness to serve the small plant community.
• Affordability: Thanks to a grant from the USDA, T&E Meats was able to offset a large portion of the system cost.

How did Carlisle Technology approach the challenge?

Carlisle Technology’s Symphony system was designed to bring traceability and productivity into processing facilities of all sizes. Every customer is unique, so Carlisle tackles each project differently. Carlisle Technology went onsite to fully document T&E Meats’ production process. T&E’s processes had to be analyzed against Symphony’s current process flow to identify gaps in the product. Carlisle then proposed a modified version of Symphony that would accommodate T&E Meats’ needs.

How was the client involved in this stage?

Projects of this magnitude always involve the client’s project champion from the very beginning. Before the project started the team at T&E Meats walked Carlisle Technology through every step of their process, helping document and point out key areas of concern. Even though T&E Meats is considered a small processor, they have one of the most complex operations we had ever worked with. Their operation consists of:

• Multi-species processing (all red meat & three exotic species)
• Able to do custom cutting, wrapping, and private labeling for each customer
• Value-add processing

Once the project started, T&E Meats worked with our project team to create a project timeline with key deliverables. T&E was also key in reviewing all the Symphony modifications to approve them prior to the final delivery of the system.

What was the solution?

T&E Meats purchased a modified version of Symphony. The out-of-the-box Symphony solution builds inventory through production, and that inventory is relieved through product sales and shipments. The biggest difference is that T&E Meats doesn’t own or sell any products. Their business model is to sell their abattoir, cutting, packaging, and value-added processing services. Carlisle Technology modified the standard Symphony solution to fit their business model. There were three key solution components:

1. Kill Floor: T&E Meats receives animals directly at the barn. At the barn the operator selects or inputs all the relevant animal information like producer name, farm name, and animal category. The hot scale/receiving station can record the live weight of the animal and is automated to receive the hot weight directly from the hot scale indicator. Once the animal carcass is ready to enter the cooler, it is labeled with a carcass tag that is produced by the hot scale/receiving station. In the office the Symphony user designates whether the carcasses will be processed as branded product or locker product.
2. Cut Floor: Once a carcass has been tagged and placed in the cooler it can be scanned out of the cooler and sent to the cut floor. T&E Meats produces two types of products: branded product and locker product. Branded product is cut and packaged with each piece being labeled with a standard GS1 barcode and their customer’s logo and company information. Locker product is cut and placed into a mixed product box. That box is weighed and gets a generic “locker product” label. Symphony produces a detailed yield report for T&E Meats that shows the complete breakdown of each carcass from the live weight to the hot weight and down to each individual piece that was weighed and associated to the carcass.
3. Shipping/QuickBooks® Interface: After products have been weighed and labeled, they are placed into inventory and are ready for shipping. Symphony has the capability to send order information to QuickBooks® for T&E Meats to complete the order and invoice. Whether a customer comes to pick up their product or the product is shipped, T&E Meats can pull up the order on the shipping mobile computer and pick items to fill the order.

What was the timeline?

The project was officially started in mid-March 2018 and was wrapped up by mid-December 2018. Extensive training and support followed through the 1st quarter of 2019, gradually lessening in intensity.

Did the solution solve the client’s stated problem?

Yes! T&E Meats is now able to provide their farmer-partners fully labeled and barcoded product. Branded products can now be tracked from the piece all the way back to the original carcass. This level of traceability will create new opportunities for their farmer-partners to sell their products to larger food retailers and distributors.

T&E Meats is also able to provide real visibility into carcass yields. Carcass yields can be viewed by the carcass tag identification number. T&E Meats can see how many serialized pieces and cartons, by quantity or weight, were produced from each carcass. This information is vital for T&E’s farmer-partners.

What immediate benefits did the client see because of the solution?

T&E Meats has a full traceability system and can weigh, label, and track products for their customers. They now have accurate yield reporting to show their customers exactly how much was produced from each carcass. These benefits should have a positive impact on T&E Meats’ business immediately.

What benefits should your client see because of your work over time?

Over time T&E Meats will become more familiar with the system and expand their usage of it. Symphony is a modular software built to expand as T&E’s needs expand. T&E Meats can eventually expand their system to include modules like the Process and Recipe Management module, or the Advanced Costing module. Symphony is flexible to grow in whichever direction T&E decides to grow.