German Meat Technology for South Korea

Schröter was one of the first companies to offer semi-continuous meat processing systems in South Korea. In 2018, Autel also decided to go with the reliable SEMIjets® from Germany.

The company, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Seoul, entered the food industry as a supplier of meat products for pizza. Today the company’s broad product range includes ham, sausage, bacon, smoked deli products, hot dogs, grilled short rib patties, fried schnitzel, and chicken nuggets. Autel’s main customers include large grocery stores and distributors, well-known pizza franchises and restaurants, as well as bakeries. In order to significantly increase its output, Autel invested in its production systems and established an HACCP concept as one of Korea’s leading food companies. Autel’s greatest competitive advantage today lies in its superior product quality, which is in line with European standards. With the aim of always producing the best quality and offering it to the Korean market, Autel installed excellent production systems early on. In order to continuously develop new flavors for high-quality products, the company has maintained technology partnerships with meat technologists from Germany and Japan, among others, since 2002.

Collaboration as
Partners

Schröter supplied Autel with systems for its various facilities in 2008 and 2018 (see Schröter Delivered). Thanks to these systems, Autel was not only able to increase productivity and yield and cut labor costs, but also simultaneously better ensure production hygiene. “We selected Schröter for a variety of reasons,” explains HunGyu Kim, Vice President at Autel. “On the one hand, our technical consultant, the German master butcher Bernd Ebeling, emphatically recommended Schröter’s systems. On the other hand, Max and Dietrich Schröter, who visited us here in South Korea in 2004 and have been personally responsible for our project since then, also made a good impression.” He is emphasising, “A level of personal trust has developed that goes beyond that of a simple business relationship.” Furthermore, Autel highly values the fact that a German meat technologist from Schröter develops and optimizes new products with the company. In addition to providing support on all project matters and questions, STERN Co., Ltd. assisted during installation and initial operation (see “News”).

Cutting-Edge Control
and Visualization

The SEMIjets® are each equipped with a Siemens PLC controller with two state-of-the-art Siemens TP 900 touch screens. All of the control components are connected via Ethernet. A web server allows the systems to be controlled remotely from anywhere on the facility’s internal network. Every SEMIjet® with a Siemens controller is connected to Schröter’s Intouch visualization system for monitoring, data logging, and remote maintenance.

Core Temperature Recorded
Continuously and Seamlessly

In addition, the SEMIjets® are equipped with a wireless core temperature sensor system. For this purpose, two wireless core temperature sensors are inserted into the product before loading the hot-smoking chamber. These remain in the product during the entire SEMIjet® process and are only removed at the end after leaving the cooling zone. The wireless core temperature sensors continuously transmit values such as the current core temperature, the probe ID, and the probe battery charge. When the battery charge reaches a critical level and needs to be replaced, a warning is displayed. The resulting core temperature diagram shows the entire cooking/cooling process. In 2019, Autel plans to increase productivity for sausage and bacon products at its second facility in Pocheon with the help of the SEMIjets®. Through the use of the BAKEjet® and kettles, Autel will launch high-quality deli products such as roasted or pickled pork knuckles, spare ribs, and Char Siu (Chinese barbecued pork), and expects to increase sales significantly. In December 2018, Autel reaffirmed its excellent partnership with Schröter and Stern and ordered additional SEMIjets® for 2019. “We are supporting Autel in ensuring that this strategy is successful and are looking forward to further projects together,” said Dietrich Schröter.

Quote

We are confident that with the dependable systems from Schröter, we will be able to permanently improve our productivity and quality.

Hungyu Kim, Vice President Autel

News

Schröter representatives can be found in countries on every continent, from Canada to Colombia and now South Korea. Here, on the Asian peninsula, STERN Co., Ltd., founded in July 2018, is responsible for offering customers proven German products of unsurpassed quality.

The company, which currently has three employees, focuses solely on Schröter’s production systems and technical service at the present time. Since Stern has extensive experience and well-trained engineers in this sector, not only can the company offer its customers a variety of different solutions, but also use its own expertise to advise them with regard to their specific requirements.

Many of Korea’s major food companies use Schröter equipment, which is renowned for its state-of-theart technology and sophisticated technical design. As a result, Stern’s activities on the Korean market began with providing comprehensive technical service.

One benefit for customers is that they no longer have to wait eight hours because of the time difference between Korea and Germany – Stern can immediately answer all of their questions. HunGyu Kim, Vice President at Autel, also confirms this: “We can speak to an engineer in Korean at any time to find a solution or schedule a visit.” In addition, Schröter hired Olivia Park, a Korean employee in Germany, to support and develop the Korean market together with Stern, and plans to expand the team in the future.

Customer Insights

Facts and Figures

The South Korean meat processing company Autel also relies on technology partnerships with meat technologists, including from Germany and Japan, to develop its high-quality products.

JULY 1991: Company founded with headquarters in Seoul
COMPANY NAME: Autel comes from French and means “table destined for God” (altar)
PRODUCT RANGE:
- Facilities in Pocheon: Ham, sausage, bacon, pizza topping, smoked deli products;
- Facilities in Icheon: Frozen hot dogs, grilled short rib patties, hamburger patties, fried schnitzel, chicken nuggets and other chicken products, frozen meat processing
FACILITY SIZE:
- Pocheon (Sinbuk): 5.500 m2 building
- Pocheon (Yongjeong): 16.500 m2 building
- Icheon: 5.000 m2 building

EMPLOYEES: Approx. 290 in 2019
OUTPUT:
- Pocheon (Sinbuk): 30 tons / day
- Pocheon (Yongjeong): 20 tons / day (capacity: 50 tons / day)
- Facility Icheon: 15 tons / day
SYSTEM OPERATORS: Only one operator for four SEMIjets® (generally), although two operators can manage production during the peak season.
SEMIjet®-PROCESSING TIMES:
- Sausage: 105 min;
- Pressed ham: 250 min;
- Bacon: 230 min