MAVAL completes installation of 5 vision machines at Elaborados Cárnicos Medina
The next phase begins: adding deep learning technology to improve the customer experience at the point of sale.
The meat industry has consolidated its position as the most important within Spain’s food and beverage sector. With a turnover close to €28 billion, it represents 22.2% of the entire Spanish food sector. Meat production in Spain reached a record figure in 2020: 7.6 million tonnes.
Within this national landscape, Elaborados Cárnicos Medina—a Spanish company with almost half a century of history, specialised in the production and distribution of meat products—holds a leading position in beef.
From its three plants in Spain, the company supplies its products to large-scale distribution, food service, restaurants and supermarkets, among others. Its people and continued adoption of the latest technologies have positioned it as a reference company in the sector across Europe.
Machine vision: one of the most recent investments
As part of these investments, Elaborados Cárnicos Medina launched a few months ago a project to incorporate machine vision technology into its packaged product lines. To bring this project to life, the company placed its trust in MAVAL as its technology partner.
Machine vision is already a well-established industrial reality. Thanks to its computational capability, it is possible to process images in real time. Typical applications include defect detection, tracking, classification and part identification, among others.
The first part of the project concluded a few weeks ago with the installation and commissioning of five vision machines for label control and product quality inspection, eliminating what are considered rejects.
A pioneering project: machine vision to improve the point-of-sale customer experience
Of the 7.6 million tonnes mentioned above, almost 20%—1.4 million tonnes—correspond to processed meat products. Among them, some products such as burgers have been at the centre of gastronomic trends. They have ceased to be considered simply “fast food” and are now regarded as a gourmet product that consumers pay increasing attention to when choosing and preparing.
In line with these consumer trends, EC Medina and MAVAL have launched the second phase of the project to equip these machines with deep learning technology.
With this second phase, the machines will evolve to become more than image generators. MAVAL will use the data collected by these machines together with data from products rejected due to their appearance (for example at the point of sale) to give them “intelligence”. Through an algorithm, they will be able to interpret packaged products and make decisions: Is the product OK or KO? Is it a product that will get the approval of the new gourmet consumer?
As a result, the product that reaches the supermarket will have the quality and appearance that consumers like most.
Bringing industry to life also means bringing dreams to life | Challenges
The concept of deep learning has not yet been used in similar applications, so we would like to thank EC Medina for choosing us as a partner to accompany them in this major challenge.
After more than two decades working to promote the digital transformation of industry, this case is a clear example of our values: dedication and commitment. Dedication and commitment from the whole team, keeping our clients moving forward, driven by technology and human talent.