Y-Cutter

Description
The Y-Cutter is a robotic device that makes the first incisions, a "Y" shaped cut, on the lamb or sheep carcase to begin the opening up process so as to remove the pelt from the carcase. In the inverted dressing system, the lamb is hanging upside down with the 4 hocks restrained in a clamp. The cut starts initially at the front foreleg hock and moves down to the breast or sternum area and then the same is done to the other side. The final cut is to form the vertical leg of the "Y" and cut from the breast bone down to the underside of the neck.

Benefits
The benefits of the Y-Cutter include:

• Occupational health and safety improvements
• Reduced labour requirements
• Pelt improvements
• Improved processing efficiencies and less rework
  
• Reduced contamination
• Improved consistency and quality of carcass dressing

In July 2008, a cost benefit study was completed on a prototype Y-Cutter system at an Australian plant. Net benefits and pay back periods in this report should be treated with caution as they do not reflect current commercial pricing.

However, the expected pay back period for two shift processors should be around 2 years, with the Y-Cutter best suited for plants processing consistently presented lamb rather than sheep carcases. 

Availability
The Y-Cutter is operating at one Australian plant and is available now through  Machinery Automation & Robotics (MAR).

More Information
As part of the assessment of the Y-Cutter an
 Occupational Health and Safety and Economic Evaluation was completed.
 
The Y-Cutter was developed through collaboration between Industrial Research Limited in New Zealand, MAR and MLA. An MAR brochure outlining the process and benefits of the Y-Cutter is available.