Turning Tragedy Into Triumph
Only five months after a destructive fire, a state-of-the-art wiener processing plant emerges from the ruins at Clougherty Packing Co.
by Bryan Salvage, editor
Clougherty Packing Co. owners, employees and invited guests didn't let relentless winter rains dampen their spirits during the grand re-opening of the company's Farmer John brand wiener department in Vernon, California.
Although the new plant gives cause for celebration, the reason behind building the new complex does not. On March 18, 1994 , a fire gutted out what was then Farmer John's newly rebuilt wiener department. But just five months later, an advanced, state-of-the-art plant emerged from the ashes. (See accompanying sidebar on the fire)
Located several miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Clougherty Packing's processing complex was invaded by several hundred invited guests on Jan. 25. They had the opportunity to mingle beneath two huge, white tents that were pitched in the asphalt parking lot. Farmer John-produced Dodger Dog brand hot dogs and sodas were served; a video of the new hot dog plant in operation attracted clusters of visitors; and Los Angeles Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda autographed programs and posed for pictures to commemorate the event.
Technically sound
Most important, guests had an opportunity to take a guided tour through the new Farmer John wiener department. The company's production goal is to manufacture 15,000 pounds of product an hour, which equates to more than two million hot dogs a day. More than 30 types of hot dogs are produced at the plant.
The new computerized, highly-automated wiener department is manned by only 36 employees, and was rebuilt within 19,000 square feet of its former building. New plant features include: anti-slip epoxy flooring conforming to the latest seismic requirements; an all-galvanized steel frame with a stainless steel-roof/ceiling with no hidden attic spaces, and stainless-steel walls and drains. New utilities were installed throughout the space, including penthouse refrigeration units.
"We had a lot of problems in controlling the air flow before [installing the penthouse refrigeration units]," says Peter Auer, manager of the Clougherty plant complex.
"Now every room has its own air-flow and exhaust system. When we wash down for the night, we shut off the refrigeration, blow [fresh] air in and remove the [existing] air out the other side. Every room is separated into units," he adds.
All rooms throughout the department are also kept at 40 degrees F through washable, overhead fibrous tunnels-which both filter the air and promote even cooling.
A number of firsts
Clougherty's new wiener department is a technology showcase featuring several first-ever applications, the company claims. For example, the department is run by the first complete wiener manufacturing computer program control system in the United States. The system was designed by Rally's.
Under Farmer John's wiener processing system, raw pork is delivered to the department from the company's kill floor, which is located at the south end of the complex. The wiener manufacturing process starts with the grinding of raw material.
The ground meat then goes by screw conveyor into one of three holding tanks (lean beef, lean pork and fat pork) where it's tested for fat, protein and moisture content.
"From each tank, we take a sample of meat and analyze it," says supervisor Raul Spindola. "The analysis will provide us with a fat percentage of each item which the computer uses to make the formula."
A computerized (Baltimore Spice) system calculates the fat content of all the products and makes a formulation on the meat. Water, corn syrup and seasoning is then added. No fillers are used.
"Our maximum capacity [in blending] will be 200,000 pounds in 18 hours," Spindola says. "We are already producing about 190,000 pounds a day using three blenders."
Next, the mixture is transferred by screw conveyor and dumped into a Stephan vacuum emulsifier-the first machine of its kind currently being used in the United States. It reduces meat to a particle size of 0.2 mm.
"This is the first emulsifier that has no metal against metal," Auer says. "Cost was also a factor in buying this machinery. Before, we had a chopper with an emulsifier behind it. This machine [replaces both and] is fully automatic."
After emulsification product is pumped into a container and stuffed into one of three HITEC M-2 linking machines, which are high-speed linking machines for 225-foot hot dog casings. The capacity for a machine is about 700 hot dogs a minute.
"This high-tech, high-speed equipment gives us approximately 5,000 pounds of product an hour," Spindola says. "The 225-foot length casings minimizes our rework."
Product enters one of three smoke chambers where it passes through a liquid smoke shower after stuffing. At the other side of the system is a filter where liquid smoke passes through and is reused.
"The liquid smoke is environmentally safe," Spindola says. "We don't pollute the air with liquid smoke. Most of it is recyclable. It's safer than natural smoke, and it will give us the same flavor and color we get from natural smoke. "
The hot dogs then enter a drying chamber to set the color of the liquid smoke and enhance the hot dogs' flavor. Next stop is the cooking house, which contains two chambers: one is low-humidity for setting protein in the product; the other side cooks under high- humidity conditions.
"This [high humidity cooker] helps get our internal temperature up," Spindola says. "USDA recommends 148 degrees F; we cook to about 165 degrees to 167 degrees F."
The hot dogs pass through high-speed brine chillers after cooking. About 15,000 pounds of product an hour are chilled. The chillers will bring the temperature down between 27 degrees F and 32 degrees F internally. From there the hot dogs enter a peeling system that removes the cellulose casings.
Product then enters the packaging room. New, washable packaging machinery enables clean-up crews to be more thorough in cleaning and sanitizing the equipment. Hot dogs enter the packaging room by conveyor and are transferred to one of three Tiromat packaging machines.
"We are running 18 indexes a minute per machine," Spindola says. "Each index contains four packages of product weighing one pound each."
Merton Haynes, Clougherty Packing's director of quality control, says: "We've made the packaging room as close to a clean room as possible. You can't enter it unless you have on the correct coat and boots. All [employees'] hands are dipped in a hand washer and all boots are dipped in a foot wash before entering this area."
Product passes through a metal detector after packaging, and is then packed and conveyed into the warehouse, which is located about 200 feet from the wiener department. The warehouse is divided into product sections, and products are shipped to customers a short time later.
"We check information from our computers at the end of each shift," Spindola says. "We have a printout of all records from the entire day listing, for example: what was blended, temperatures, and products produced. We can compare losses, give aways-everything."
Old versus new
What are the major differences between the new wiener plant and the one destroyed by the fire?
"We are fully computerized now. Much was done manually before. Our operation is now more efficient, and our records are more accurate," Spindola says.
Haynes adds: "All the dumpers for raw material are set by what we command. If the bar code [reading] doesn't coincide [by command], the dumper doesn't work.
"Blending is done automatically," Haynes continues. "The system automatically [dumps] the right kinds and amounts of meat and does all of the appropriate blending. The only thing we add by hand is seasoning, nitrite and ascorbate. From there, [the operation] is fully automatic."
Microbiological analysis is done daily on all equipment that comes in contact with meat, Spindola points out.
"We keep a record of all our bacteria counts," he adds. "And if we have problems, we correct them immediately."
Farmer John's new wiener department is more compact, too.
"We're utilizing the room better," Spindola says. "The systems have improved. We have better, cleaner and faster equipment.
"We're also using fresh meat [pork from hogs slaughtered daily on premise] in our ingredients," he adds. "Before, we had a system of pre-blending. This is a just-in-time operation. All ingredients entering the department are used that day. There are [no meat ingredients] left over at the end of the day."
Focus on steady flow
Perhaps most important is the new plant's focus on steady flow as opposed to faster line speeds.
"We produced 128,000 pounds of product [which consisted of] 15 different pack sizes [during one day]," Auer says. "Nobody else in the world can do something like that on a high-speed line when it comes to making different sizes of products.
"Before, we had four lines: two high-speed lines for one designation and two other lines set at varying speeds," Auer adds. "Now we have only three lines, but I can quickly switch from producing 5-pound to 3-pound packs."
Spindola adds: "We can change the Tiromat machines as we need to. [When changing over], the dies to form-to-fill and the heads from the loader have to be changed. Changeover takes about an hour."
All three of the machines are running steadily, Auer says.
"Most processors say they need more speed. Speed is not the key. Steady flow is the key," he adds.
By maintaining a continuous flow, higher yield is maintained, Spindola claims.
"The plant equipment is less likely to experience breakdowns, and we won't have inferior products or large amounts of reworked products," he adds.
Cougherty packing wasted no time in rebuilding plant
Five months after a fire gutted Clougherty Packing Co.'s wiener department, a new and improved operation was up and running.
"The fire happened on March 18, the day after St. Patrick's Day. I remember it well," says Merton Haynes, Clougherty Packing's director of quality control.
Clougherty had just finished rebuilding its wiener department, with the exception of a few minor details. A worker was welding a beam to the ceiling when the insulation caught fire.
"We used fire extinguishers [to try and put out the fire], but it kept getting worse," Haynes says.
Firemen battled the blaze for nearly three hours, Haynes recalls. Firemen ripped open the roof and attacked the flames from above, but the fire kept spreading.
"It got so hot inside the plant [1,200 degrees F] that the floors cracked," Haynes says. "They had to get everyone out of the building. They let it burn."
Miraculously, hot dogs inside the coolers survived the fire.
"I was taking temperatures in the coolers at 11 p.m. on the evening of the fire," Haynes says. "Somehow, the fire never affected the coolers-the temperature was still below 40 degrees F. Some water got on the product, but it was repacked and shipped out."
The company moved quickly to make co-packing arrangements.
"We gave companies our formulas and labels and asked them to produce product," Haynes notes. "We didn't really have formal contracts."
USDA was also helpful, Haynes adds. "[USDA] helped us to expedite the transfer of labels and other necessary things," he says. "We ended up with four facilities producing products for us within five days of the fire."