$2,300 Saved In Monthly Poultry Pump Repair

TURKEY THIGH KINGS

TFC Poultry specializes in turkey thigh deboning, processing over 9000 birds a day. Since 2008, the company has implemented state of the art technology to maintain industry high yields and efficiencies. TFC Poultry aims to provide their customers with the highest quality meat available.

REDUCED DOWNTIME AND HIGHER FLOW RATES

Deboning turkey thighs creates a large amount of waste. This waste needs to move away from the processing line before it backs up and slows production. The pumps used to transfer the bones, skin, and fat were not able to handle the volume or size of material. Pumps plugging up and low flow rates were having negative impacts on productivity. Compounding this fact, were frequent unanticipated failures. These pump failures were leading to costly production downtime.

In the past, three competitive pumps were used in this application. These pumps had difficulty transferring the poultry byproducts. Each pump would require repair at least once a month. These pumps use bolts and have many parts leading to a repair time of 6 hours per pump. Every month TFC Poultry experienced at least 18 hours of downtime.

Kyle, TFC Poultry Maintenance Manager, needed a better way...

HIGH QUALITY PUMPS AND PARTNERS

From the beginning, TFC Poultry has been on a mission of continual improvement. Between 2009 and 2010, the company purchased a facility and while becoming FDA and organic compliant. Recognizing a competitive advantage operations transitioned to only deboning in 2014. 2017 saw the introduction of water jets to expand capacity. Water chilling and X-ray installed to increase product safety. In 2020, TFC Poultry partnered with Graco to improve their fluid handling processes.

After participating in a hands-on product demo the team installed three Graco SaniForce 3150 Large Particle Air-Operated Diaphragm Pumps

The Turkey Thigh Kings had two pressing needs for a new pump.

1) Increase material flow rates

The three inch sanitary AODD flapper pumps can handle material with a diameter of 2.6 inches. Meaning bones, fat, skin, keels, and other waste will achieve flow rates up to 130gpm.

2) Reduce Unanticipated Shutdowns

Graco manufactures all SaniForce diaphragm pumps in the United States; this includes stainless steel components, and consumable parts like diaphragms, balls, and seats. Before leaving the factory, Graco technicians test every pump to meet our rigorous standards.

Graco designs pumps with the operator in mind. The old pumps took 6 hours each to do a full repair. The installed Graco diaphragm pumps take only 30 minutes to install a repair kit. Less parts and optimal design.

UNANTICIPATED PUMP FAILURES ELIMINATED

“Graco pumps have been running since February 2020. As of August 2020, TFC Poultry has experienced no pump failures or repairs. When using the competitive pump on the fat pump line, we were repairing the competitors pump every 2 – 4 weeks.”

Kyle recommends the SaniForce LP 3150 because of its “Simple design, longer life, less repair parts, and faster flow rates.”

The SaniForce poultry pump eliminated unanticipated shutdowns due to pump failure. This means less money spent per turkey and more profit in the bottom line. TFC Poultry count on the SaniForce line of sanitary fluid transfer equipment to “Protect their Process”.