Bakkafrost, EVi salmon gutting machine, and us

When Andrias Petersen, Group Harvest Director at Bakkafrost, heard JBT Marel were working on a new gutting machine, he reached out. After a few conversations, he recognised how the innovative concepts behind EVi could provide the flexibility in salmon gutting that Bakkafrost was looking for. Bakkafrost came onboard to test EVi in an operating facility.

Committed to providing healthy, quality salmon products to the global marketplace, Bakkafrost is constantly seeking innovations that help them become a world-class processor in the salmon industry.

What makes EVi different?

EVi stands for evisceration intelligence. EVi automatically and intelligently guts salmon in a way that enhances performance and quality for salmon processors.

“All gutting machines need to gut and clean the salmon well,” says Andrias Petersen, “EVi is a bit different compared to other gutting machines on the market. It is dual lane. With two lanes for gutting it gives us more time to gut and clean the fish properly, with no mechanical damage. We see that as a great advantage.”

The infeed system positions each fish with a stable and secure hold. By slowing the process and intoducing a compact, parallel flow, the dual lane system improves utilization and gutting quality, while meeting the industry need for faster, more consistent throughput.

Modern processing is becoming increasingly reliant on digital tools that capture data to provide operational visibility, performance insight, and ensure full traceabilty. EVi’s integrated software does just this, and can be seamlessly connected to up and downstream processes to enable full line control and insight. “That it can gut the fish well, and give us data related to performance operation, will create value for us,” says Andrias Petersen.

Addressing industry needs

From the start JBT Marel has been developing  EVi with the aim of providing the industry with high throughput gutting and high quality results. A key factor to achieving this is the vision system, which scans each fish as it enters EVi to determine accurate size and profile. The gutting tools automatically adjust to process each fish to the highest standard.

AQi, an advanced propietary vision technology, also identifies any gutting defects, rerouting fish requiring further attention to the the correct location for further handling. 
 “EVi is designed in a way that gives each fish the time and precision it needs to deliver outstanding gutting results,” said Gunnhildur Ómarsdóttir, Product Manager, JBT Marel. 
The increased automation of EVi reduces reliance on labor, allowing processors to reasign staff to other tasks, while maintaining reliable output and operations. “It runs for the most part without people. Which has an impact of production costs. But that is not the decisive factor for us. What’s crucial is that the operation performs as well as possible,” says Andrias Petersen.

Salmon gutting machines operate in a harsh environment and must be robust enough to process millions of fish across the lifespan of the machine. With each downtime costing money and risking valuable raw product, it was crucial for JBT Marel to ensure EVi was robustly made with safeguards that ensure at least 50% of capacity remains available, even in the rare event of a breakdown.