Keep Clean Throughout the Pork Production Process
In the food processing industry, sanitation stands above all else on the ladder of importance. If strict cleanliness guidelines are not followed, the product may be contaminated—causing potentially serious health issues for the customer and devastating business consequences for the processor. Food manufacturer LALA, located in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, is a shining example of the intense hygiene requirements needed to consistently produce high-quality, safe (and tasty) pork products every day.
Throughout the facility, employees are held to the highest standard of sanitation. Full-body clean suits are worn by those in contact with or near pork as it is received, handled and packaged. Sanitary masks, gloves and boots complete the ensemble, revealing only an employee’s eyes to distinguish one individual from the next. However, the strict standards do not stop there.
Scale dealer Basculas Industriales Ballesteros installed Rice Lake RoughDeck QC-X floor scales wherever bulk pork weighments were needed, providing accurate readings without sacrificing sanitation or reliability.
It begins in the receiving room, where raw pork enters in large plastic-lined containers on pallets. A pit-mounted RoughDeck QC-X industrial floor scale is installed flush with the concrete floor, enclosed on three sides by safety rails to avoid side loading and unnecessary forklift traffic over the platform.
The pork is then transferred into 150-pound (70-kilogram) totes and weighed on a second pit-mounted RoughDeck QC-X floor scale for an additional measurement before entering cold storage. Differences in container capacity and fill level from the receiving room to the totes often result in weight changes. These loads, typically in the 2,200 to 3,300-pound range (1,000 to 1,500 kilograms), are essential for precise inventory tracking at this stage of the process.
Once ready for production into hot dogs, sausage or ham, the pork enters enormous grinders and mixers to achieve the desired recipe. The expansive room incorporates a tile floor with abundant drains, as regular washdowns are mandatory as part of cleaning and sanitizing practices. A third pit-mounted QC-X floor scale resides in this area (and a fourth in a similar, adjacent room) surrounded by custom tilework tracing the frame’s edges. Weighments are captured after each product has been processed.
Each RoughDeck QC-X floor scale at LALA utilizes a stainless steel indicator pedestal with built-in junction box enclosure for added protection. 480 Legend Series digital weight indicators provide bright weight readings to operators, which are also recorded through the communication port for validation and tracking.
