New South Wales Meat Processing Plant Automated Cold Storage Project

Project Background and Core Challenges

Industry pain points

Excessive reliance on manual labor:

The meat box weighs up to 27kg, manual handling leads to an annual increase of 12% in work-related injuries, and the efficiency is only 33 boxes/hour;
Insufficient temperature control accuracy:

The temperature control accuracy of old warehouse fluctuates by ±3℃, affecting the preservation of beef marbling, and the return rate of orders exported to Japan reaches 5%;
Lack of traceability:

The manual records lead to 20% order sorting errors, which cannot meet the blockchain traceability requirements of the Asian market.

Technical goals

Build a fully automated freezer within 9 months, integrating the conveying, storage and sorting systems;
Achieve a constant temperature of -25℃±0.5℃, and support the quality certification of red meat exported to Asia;
Deploy a multi-layer shuttle ASRS system to completely replace the manual handling.

Highlights of the overall technical solution

Automated logistics system integration

Dematic multi-layer shuttle ASRS

With a capacity of 4,300 meat boxes (single box size: 600×400×200mm), it achieves a storage and retrieval efficiency of 120 boxes/hour (264% higher than manual operation);

Intelligent warehouse optimization algorithm: Automatically rearranges cargo positions when idle, shortening the pickup path by 40%.
Full process automation linkage

The conveyor network connects the deboning workshop, the automatic carton sealing machine, the whole-pallet freezer, and the ASRS warehouse, achieving zero manual contact;

RFID tracking system: Bind the source information of each box of meat (farm number, slaughter time, shelf life), shortening customs clearance time by 50%.

Ultra-low temperature environment adaptability design

Refrigeration system upgrade

The system features a Bitzer screw unit operating at an evaporation temperature of -40°C, a COP value of 1.8, and a hot air defrosting cycle of ≤25 minutes;

Distributed evaporator layout: The temperature difference in the warehouse is controlled at ±0.3℃ (measured value).
Seismic resistance and safety redundancy

Shelf-integrated BRB (buckling-restrained brace) supports (resistant to magnitude 7.0 earthquakes);

Shuttle car modular design: Resolve a single failure within 1 hour without affecting system operation.

9-month phased implementation of key milestones

Multi-system joint debugging
2020.7.16-10.15
It takes only 6 hours for an empty warehouse at -25℃ to cool down, with the temperature difference of 0.8℃
Blockchain traceability docking with Japanese and Korean customs systems

Project results and quantitative value