First Seafood has introduced a new fillet scanner at its Kongsvinger site.
Eighteen months ago, Norwegian salmon supplier First Seafood commenced an investment in processing at the company’s Kongsvinger factory, a few miles outside Oslo. They soon found that the company’s new fillet scanner, quickly became essential to production operations.
When the company, a subsidiary of seafood giant Insula, opened a new factory in Godvik in Bergen in September last year, they got back in touch with the machine’s supplier.
“We challenged BAADER because we are very keen on technological development, and we aim to be the industry leader in this field,” said CCO Roy Olsen, who highlighted the company’s ambition to deploy a new fillet scanner that would position First Seafood as a global leader in salmon production technology.
“The fillet scanner in Kongsvinger was a prototype. Nevertheless, it worked well, and it presented us with new challenges and opportunities, particularly in terms of AI and digitalization. It had four outlets, but the new one has twelve different gradations. However, it requires four fewer staff members,” he adds.
Although operations are now underway in Bergen, one thing is missing.
“In July, the new scanner and grader will be in place. Then once again, we will be at the forefront of technology worldwide. I’ve been in the industry since 1990, and we’re talking about a quantum leap compared to where we were five years ago.”
Must Process in Norway
Olsen stressed his belief in the value of such significant investments.
“We know that there is undercapacity in processing in Norway. When we calculated and saw what volume we could handle with new technology, we had no doubts. Of course, there will be quite a few additional costs with the ambitious venture in Bergen, but we saw that it would result in a solid operation,” he said.
“We’re investing in a second factory because we strongly believe that processing in Norway is the way forward. First Seafood is adamant that the industry must process the fish in Norway and create various salmon products here. If we don’t have the best technology, we won’t succeed. And, importantly, we have highly skilled employees in both Bergen and Kongsvinger, which is crucial to achieving our goals.”
Technology is objective
Olsen is pleased that technology has advanced to the point where they can utilize the entire fish in processing.
“With the machinery we have, based on new technology, we produce a top-quality product. This allows us to maximize the utilization of the raw material. The technology is objective, and the machines make decisions down to the millimeter, allowing us to utilize 100% of the fish for the right market, whether it’s for smoking, portioning, or export,” said Olsen.
“The technology from BAADER enables us to process the fish much smarter, faster, and more efficiently through the factory. This gives us a significant increase in capacity, contributing to a more sustainable production.”
