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Loeuf SAS, based in La Bazoge in France and part of Loué (www.loue.fr), is a leading French company specialized in the production, grading and packing of animal-friendly produced eggs. Growing market demands required grading and packing capacity to increase, which resulted in an order for a Moba Omnia PX350 in 2017. The Omnia PX350 has a grading and packing capacity of 126,000 eggs per hour. The machine was delivered with a logistic solution consisting of an auto-controlled multi-level conveyor systems (Contiflow) feeding several case-packing and display-loading robots. Throughout the entire installation, a state-of-the-art Track and Trace system was implemented.
The strong market position of Loeuf SAS, in addition to a growing demand for the specific type of Loué's alternatively produced and packed eggs, led to the packing station in La Bazoge being extended. Loeuf SAS ordered another Moba Omnia PX350 grading and packing machine with the same functionalities as the previous machine that had been delivered.
What made the Loeuf SAS order so unique is the special Track and Trace functionality throughout the entire installation. Traceability of eggs is nothing new for Moba. Due to the individual egg handling, which Moba is known for, all Omnia grading and packing machines are standard equipped with this particular feature. The software in the Moba Omnia graders knows the exact moment when eggs from a new supplier enter the machine. Eggs arrive by means of an automatic loading system or a direct connection using an egg conveyer(s) from a poultry house. The position of each individual egg is recorded throughout the entire process. Therefore the origin of each individual egg in a specific final product (meaning the consumer pack of eggs in supermarkets, for example) can be found. This method is called "tracing", as the origin of the individual product is traced back. Simultaneously, the system generates a list of deliveries of eggs from each source; this is called "tracking".
The Loeuf SAS project
Omnia software can Track and Trace every individual egg from the moment it is loaded on the grader. The process is as follows:
Most customers want to carry product specific information onto the consumer packs. Loeuf SAS went one step further and wanted the Track and Trace information to be carried all the way onto cases. This meant having full Track and Trace, also in the logistic system. To make this possible, the Omnia grading and packing software need to be linked with the logistic solution provided by Moba, in this case the Contiflow system and robot packing solutions.
PackID
Moba found the solution by generating a so-called PackID for each consumer egg pack. Each generated 2D code holds a significant amount of information in which, after being scanned, the origin of the producer of the eggs can be traced.
After the eggs have been packed into a consumer pack, each consumer pack gets a printed 2D code (PackID) and travels through a logistic conveyor system (Contiflow) to a packing robot. The 2D codes are scanned at various stages and the sequence of packing on the conveyors is monitored; the operator is notified of any disturbance immediately. The operator can monitor the entire process on a 3D overview screen. The robots place consumer packs into a box or crate. When it is completely filled, a label is added to the box or crate with information about its contents. This label is called a "CaseID".
The filled cases and boxes are automatically sent to a palletizing system. After being placed onto different pallets, each pallet is then given a label listing all CaseIDs. Scanning a pallet label would give the operator all of the information about the cases or boxes on a pallet. The CaseID contains information about each PackID and a PackID contains information about the origin of every egg and this closes the Track and Trace circle.
Repeat order
The first system was installed in 2016 and prior to installation the entire system was tested at Moba. Moba is extremely proud and thankful of the fact that Loeuf SAS trusted them with a repeat order for a second system that was installed this year.