"Flexibility is a priority for us. Thanks to Weber, we can cut without long changeover times."
Aarnink Vleeswaren produces between 650 and 700 different meat and sausage products every day for retailers, restaurants, butchers, and food service providers. This requires a high degree of flexibility in production. That is why the meat processing company from Lochem (Netherlands) relies on Weber Food Technology solutions for cutting, portioning, and packaging its products. "Thanks to Weber's machines, we are able to cut different products without long changeover times. This is an essential requirement of our production," explains Bart Aarnink, managing director and owner of Aarnink Vleeswaren.
"Flexibility is our top priority," continues Bart, who is now the second generation to run the family business. The company was founded by his father Ton, a trained butcher who ran several butcher shops independently for many years. "My father started with his own shop and built and expanded our company into what it is today. At Aarnink Vleeswaren, we manufacture quality products with which we aim to preserve the traditional character of meat products.” According to the company, it is the market leader in this market segment. The reasons for this are the wide range of products and excellent service that are characteristic of a family business, and products with the authentic "taste of the past".
Author: Martijn Schwillens
Focus on customer requirements.
Kamsteeg explains that, despite the wide variety and many small batches, Aarnink Vleeswaren deliberately opted for a high-performance Weber Slicer 604 and wePICK 3000 pick robot with integrated buffer function. "Thanks to the buffer function, we were able to increase capacity to many times the originally expected number of packages per minute. This production line no longer has any downtime," explains Kamsteeg. This is possible because the pick robot controls the slicer to achieve the exact number of portions. This creates a temporary buffer so the robot can continue running during a product change or a new batch and fill the packaging machine with finished portions. During the reloading of the slicer, this buffer is used up, ensuring a continuous process without downtime.
According to Bart Aarnink, the automation of production in Lochem is not yet complete; further steps are already planned in collaboration with Weber Food Technology: "Since 2018, our headquarters and the slicing, order picking, and logistics departments have been located in Lochem, and since 2024, our entire production has been there. We would like to further automate our end-of-line area. The key question is: How can we achieve this while maintaining our current flexibility? We would like to take further steps together to achieve this." However, the collaboration for the new headquarters in Lochem did not begin with discussions about technical production solutions. "We originally started talking because I was familiar with the new building and could advise Aarnink on how to set it up as efficiently as possible. This approach is also in line with our customer promise, "Expect More". "Because together we are stronger," reports René Kamsteeg. For Weber, the focus is on finding a solution that moves the customer forward and enables improvements such as automation. In many cases, this is done jointly and in partnership with the customer – as is the case with Aarnink Vleeswaren. "If a customer has a request, it must be met. And if the right solution doesn't exist, we develop it. That's how we work at Weber," Kamsteeg sums it up.
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