Bellingham, WABrownfield (line rework inside an operating plant)

Fillet Line Optimization — Multivac Infeed & Skinning

Step loss cut from 11% to 5% — 2% yield, $1MM a year

01 — Results

11% → 5%

Site step loss

+2%

Yield recovered

$1MM

Annual savings

Metric	Before	After	Delta
Site step loss	11%	5%	−6 pts
Yield	Baseline	+2%	$1MM/yr
Upstream WIP on stops	Flooded	Held by interlock	Controlled

02 — Challenge

Whole-fish-to-fillet flow ran across filleting, pin bone, skinning, trim and vacuum packaging with no shared pacing, and step loss was being carried as the cost of doing business at 11%.

Every stop downstream flooded upstream WIP, product sat, rework grew, and the loss was spread thin enough across stations that nobody owned it.

03 — My role

Line integration + equipment approvals lead

Timeline: 2022 infeed approval / line integration program

04 — Scope

Line integration proposal defining PLC/HMI control across filleting, trim belt, pin-bone removal, skinning, final trim and vacuum packaging, with future skinner capacity designed in
Infeed conveyor designed and approved to feed the existing packaging layout without rework
Start/pause interlock logic so downstream stops no longer flood upstream WIP
Step-loss measured and attacked station by station across the fillet line: 11% down to 5%
Actionable stop-cause data refocused improvement on trimming labor, the true constraint

05 — Execution

Line integration proposal defining PLC/HMI control across filleting, trim belt, pin-bone removal, skinning, final trim and vacuum packaging, with future skinner capacity designed in
Measured step loss station by station rather than as a line-level number
Infeed conveyor designed and approved to feed the existing packaging layout without rework
Start/pause interlock logic so downstream stops hold upstream instead of burying it
Stop-cause data used to refocus improvement on trimming labor, the true constraint

06 — Systems & technology

Multivac
Baader
Skinning
Conveyance design
PLC pacing

07 — Artifacts & evidence

Skinner infeed / outfeed conveyance detail — Skinner infeed and outfeed outfitted with spraybars, indirect drive kept clear of operators, striped belt aligned to the portioner belt centerlines, plus belt lifter, take-up, docking pins, quick disconnect and swivel locking casters for sanitation drop-out. Open full size

Fillet line conveyor integration layout — Overall conveyance arrangement tying the skinners into the line — belt lifters, e-stop placement and casters for wash-down mobility. Open full size

Approved infeed conveyor design tying skinning to packaging
Station-level step-loss measurement backing the 11% → 5% claim

08 — Key takeaways

Line-level yield numbers hide the fix. Loss only became actionable once it was attributed per station.

Back to all projects