The Challenge
Georgia-based poultry producer Tip Top Poultry prides itself on offering the finest quality products and customer service. As the largest baking and stewing hen marketer in the U.S., there’s emphasis not only on quality and service, but also productivity and efficiency on the production line. Poultry processing requires sanitary pumps that can handle the product’s high viscosity and provide proper separation.
In 2015, Tip Top Poultry began experiencing challenges with the sinusoidal pumps they were utilizing in their Rockmart, Ga., processing facility. Product was not flowing through the pump properly, requiring additional employees to monitor the pump and plunge product through the conveyor to continue the flow during each shift of their 16-hour production days. With the current pump not functioning at its optimal efficiency, the team knew they needed to take action and implement a better pumping solution.
The Approach
The plant engineer and maintenance teams from Tip Top Poultry heard about another major poultry manufacturer’s success using Unibloc Pump’s line of positive displacement sanitary pumps. While at the XX Poultry Show in XX, Tip Top Poultry team members saw Unibloc’s products first hand.
Based on the issues with the sinusoidal pumps Tip Top Poultry previously was using, Unibloc met with maintenance managers at the company and offered them the opportunity to trial test Unibloc’s QuickStrip® pump in their facility for three weeks. QuickStrip pumps, designed specifically for meat and poultry processing, include patented DuraCore rotor technology better designed to handle the challenges of daily sanitation by offering tool-free disassembly, reduced wear, and a lower cost of ownership. The rotors provide plastic on metal contact, as opposed to metal on metal, which can cause scratches, dents and un-repairable damage that can quickly reduce the pump’s efficiency and performance. Another benefit for Tip Top Poultry is the Unibloc QuickStrip pump features metal and X-ray detectability, assuring production safety. QuickStrip gear pumps also are able to handle both low and high viscosity product and pressure changes with ease compared to other pumps on the market.
Because of the QuickStrip pump’s easy one-way assembly, the maintenance managers could switch to the QuickStrip pump at the facility with no line modifications to begin initial testing. Within 24 hours of seeing the QuickStrip pump in action, the Tip Top Poultry team decided this was the sanitary pump needed for their operation.
“We didn’t need three weeks of testing. We knew within a few minutes of starting it up that it was a better pump for our production,” said Adam White, assistant plant manager at Tip Top Poultry. Unibloc’s pump pushed and pulled the material smoothly, creating a proper flow and eliminating the need for additional labor to plunge the hopper material to the pump properly. The QuickStrip pump created an even, consistent distribution of product onto the conveyer belt, removing any air pockets or open areas. This improved shear keeps moisture content high, resulting in better quality product and creating a higher yield.
The Tip Top team knew choosing the Unibloc QuickStrip pumps would be worth the investment, as QuickStrip eliminates the need for more costly maintenance that many other pump brands require. Unibloc pumps operate efficiently at lower speeds than competitor pumps, increasing the life span of parts, including the rotors, shafts, bearings and seals. This helps save Tip Top Poultry thousands of dollars in maintenance costs.
In addition to the quality and efficiency of the QuickStrip pump, Tip Top Poultry chose to partner with Unibloc because of their demonstrated customer service. Unibloc’s uncompromising commitment to their customers guaranteed the team would work closely with Tip Top Poultry’s maintenance and plant managers to determine a specialized fit for their processing needs, be available to demonstrate how to operate the equipment and answer any questions about upkeep and maintenance. Along with Unibloc’s high-quality craftsmanship, their unique focus on customer service meant Tip Top Poultry would not find themselves in a processing crisis in the future.
The Results
Tip Top Poultry has been utilizing QuickStrip pumps at its Rockmart plant since 2015. Because of the durable design and innovative rotor technology, the same Unibloc pumps originally purchased four years ago are still in operation today and need little maintenance, aside from standard wear pad replacement.
The Unibloc QuickStrip pump made Tip Top Poultry’s processing more efficient and has resulted in a X% increase in yield each year.
