MACSYS involves 9 partners including research institutions and companies from 6 EU countries:
Robert Damkjaer Ltd. is a family-owned company based on proud traditions within sausage manufacturing - founded in 1961 by Robert Damkjaer and his son Poul Erik Damkjaer. The company produces canned, chilled and frozen products made from poultry or poultry mixed with beef. The canned products are exported to the Middle East and to other worldwide markets, and the chilled and frozen products are mainly sold in Europe.
In 2010 Robert Damkjaer became IFS (Higher Level) and BRC (Grade A) certified. IFS (International Featured Standard) and BRC (British Retail Consortium) are food safety and quality standards - developed to inspect the competence of food producers in food safety and quality.
All meat is purchased from slaughterhouses for the production of luncheon meats and sausages. Robert Damkjaer is strongly interested in a uniform interpretation of the legislation applicable to comminuted meat in EU. The company has already been engaged in two Danish projects focused on quality assessment of mechanically and manually recovered meat and related methodologies - these projects were forerunners for the MACSYS project.
Carometec (CMT) is a Danish SME with roots back to 1931 where the company established a separate cooperative in line with the traditional organizational model of Danish agriculture. Ever since CMT has experienced changes in the organizational structure and profile. Today the company is highly specialized and is positioned as the world leader in development of grading equipment, tracking systems and quality control instruments for the pig and beef industry. By being innovative the company wish to continue to be the global leader and in order to achieve that, close relationships with leading universities and research institutes is of main priority. The company’s headquarter is located in Copenhagen, Denmark and has subsidiaries in the US, Germany, Poland and Spain.
Set up in 1981, LIMA S.A.S. is specialized in the design, manufacturing and sales of meat bones separators, deboners and desinewers, corresponding to the highest quality standards. Thanks to dynamism in innovation, a complete range of machines has been developed. Based on his technological expertise and experience, LIMA offers also complete production lines. A team of representatives and associated companies markets and services the separators, in more than 100 countries on 5 continents. Our mission is to satisafy our customers in terms of quality recovered meat in involving the minimum inputs - energy - water - with respect to the environment and friendly operation concept. More than 90 % being exported worldwide make LIMA's technology one of the world leaders in this field.
Software for Critical Systems - SoftCritcS (SCS) is a technological company created to exploit the results of different European projects coordinated by the University of Malaga and to apply other research results developing software solutions and products. SCS has three main working lines based on industrial inspection, critical system simulation and wireless sensor network technology:
• SCS has taken an active part in the software development of industrial critical inspections based on different techniques as eddy currents, ultrasound and image analysis. In this line, we have collaborated in the development of different tools for the inspection of critical components in nuclear and aeronautics sectors
• SCS designs and implements software solutions for the simulation of critical systems such as nuclear power or electric plants. For example, it has taken part in the development of the TEAM SUITE tool that simulates the logic, flow and electronics of a nuclear power plant.
• SCS develops software tools based on the wireless sensor network (WSN) technology. In this area we are currently working on the FP7 SEEDS project for the monitoring of energy efficient buildings.
SCS has a long experience in the development of image analysis tools for the industrial domain. Among other project, SCS has collaborated in the design and implementation of a tool for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) inspection based on sherography, thermography and ultrasound images and on the SIGMA project to construct a Steam Generator Tube Identification System using Machine Vision for nuclear power plants heat interchangers.
In 2011 AU ranked number 79 at the QS World University Ranking, which is the second highest Scandinavian ranking. The group of differentiated & Biofunctional Foods, within the Department of Food Science has worked with the dependency of the physiological state of muscles and how this is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and the effect of this broad spectrum of meat quality traits. Within the last ten years the group has been involved in research on mechanically separated meat with particular focus on the development of methods to differentiate these products based on quality parameters. The group has previously developed an image analysis system for measuring characteristics of individual muscle fibre types, which is also used in research in medicine and exercise physiology.
The research group, Spectroscopy & Chemometrics (SPECC) which will be part of this project is situated at the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen (UCPH). The data are handled by chemometrics and advanced data analysis tools in order to extract the maximum amount of information. The research group is specialised in non-destructive food analysis by spectroscopic screening methods and world leading in applying and developing chemometrics and advanced data analysis.
Leatherhead Food Research (LFR), based near London, UK, is an independent organization delivering innovative research, scientific consultancy and regulatory guidance and interpretation. Fundamentally a membership-based organisation, our unique portfolio of products has attracted over 1500 companies worldwide. They represent a who’s who of the global food industry, ranging from large multi-nationals to small and medium-sized companies. LFR’s industry-leading scientific, regulatory and market research capabilities create a unique combination of food industry acumen and scientific expertise. LFR offer clients practical advice, tailored consultancy, research and business-oriented support closely aligned to both their strategic and everyday demands. Specific to the meat industry, LFR is renowned for its studies into the microstructure of food and meat in particular; and is also acknowledged as expert in the development of genetic markers, assays and specialist chemical analyses for food.
MRI, the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, was founded in 2008. It is granted the status of a federal high authority and is one of the four federal research institutes under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). Main research activities focus on assessment of bioactive food constituents and their health effects, investigation of gentle and sustainable procedures for processing, quality assurance of vegetable and animal food as well as analysis of nutritional behaviour of certain population groups and the improvement and enhancement of consumers’ competence. MRI’s Department of Safety and Quality of Meat holds relevant experience for the MACSYS project within muscle histology, detection methods of MSM, and meat quality.
Marel (MA) is a leading provider of advanced equipment, systems and services to the fish, meat, poultry and further processing industries. The company is a global leader in developing and manufacturing integrated systems for the fish, poultry and further processing industry segments, and a major provider for the meat industry. The product range spans from harvesting raw materials to packaging the final product – from standardized stand-alone units to allinclusive integrated turnkey systems. The strong research and development strategy of MA is supported by an annual investment of 6-7% of revenue in innovation, which is above the average expenditure of competitors in the field. Highly qualified researchers and technicians, a great working relationship with leaders in the food processing industry and a pioneering mindset contribute to the company’s successful product development that has kept it at the forefront of the industry during the last decades.
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