The Step Loader Transforms EC Medina's Packaging Process

Discover how EC Medina, Spain’s leading beef company, transformed their packaging process with QUPAQ's Step Loader, provided by Juel Concept. By decreasing manual labor, enhancing food safety, and boosting efficiency, EC Medina achieved an attractive ROI and exceeded all expectations in productivity and reliability.

As the leading beef company in Spain, Ec Medina  holds a prominent position in the market, supplying high-quality beef to major retailers like Mercadona. With three plants equipped with the latest technologies, EC Medina processes approximately 300,000 cattle annually, outputting and packing more than 300 tons of boneless meat per day.

However, despite their already impressive operations, EC Medina found room for improvement still in their packaging process, particularly concerning manual labor, food safety, and production efficiency. These challenges prompted them to seek innovative solutions to automate and enhance their packaging process at their facility in Buñol, Valencia.

Today, EC Medina handles more than 300 tons of boneless meat daily, equivalent to more than 300.000 trays per day. EC Medina uses the QUPAQ Step Loaders to load large portions of sliced meat, known as ‘Spanish Cuts’, which fill the trays entirely. ‘Spanish Cuts’ are characterized by their long and thin slices, which also can be difficult to load when not using the right equipment.

Ulrik Juel remember this challenge and recalls:

“EC Medina supply portions with a gap in weight between 450-550g, and by eliminating the manual process, they have experienced less re-work due to less portions out of range. The manual workers sometimes added too much product to the tray, which would be rejected after weight check. Now nobody touches the sliced portions before they are inside the tray. This means less re-work and less waste.”

Prepared to Meet the Future Demands

Today EC Medina has 12 lines running at their facility in Buñol, Valencia with three QUPAQ Step Loaders incorporated in the lines. Since implementing the first QUPAQ Step Loader in 2021, they have run more than 20 million trays on the QUPAQ Step Loader lines. However, EC Medina‘s decision-making process extended beyond immediate requirements and the need for fast results when then acquired the QUPAQ Step Loader solutions.

“By thinking long-term and selecting a solution that can adapt and expand alongside their needs, EC Medina has now future-proofed their business by reducing unnecessary expenses on upgrades and replacements, which makes the solution a much more sustainable investment,” Ulrik Juel says.

It creates a flexible and agile production line that can adjust to the market’s demands, ensuring EC Medina‘s long-term competitiveness. Rubén emphasizes the significance of long-term thinking, stating:

“We currently operate with only one format per QUPAQ Step Loader, but we feel prepared for the future with features like quick changeovers and the ability to run both short side and long side leading on the same line, along with the ability to run different patterns.”