MAJA has earned an international reputation for its high-quality skinning, membraning, and iceflaking machines during its 50-plus years of serving the needs of the global meat and food industry. Not known to stand still, MAJA continues to move forward by re-energizing its commitment to servicing clients and developing unique equipment that meets a wide range of customer needs.

of customer needs. The company offers a full line machines for any application in meat-skinning segment, as well fresh-meat slicing. In 2000, Germanybased MAJA-Maschinenfabrik Hermann Schill GmbH & Co. opened the doors of Omaha, NE-based MAJA Food-Technology — its wholly owned subsidiary and North American distributor.

“Being based in Omaha allows MAJA to gain better insights into the North American market,” said Paul Menting, general manager, MAJA Food- Technology, during last year’s Worldwide Food Expo (WWFE) in Chicago.

This subsidiary was built following MAJA tradition. “We have hired new people who are very loyal to what MAJA represents — and that’s a family approach to business,” Menting added. “We consider our clients as a part of the MAJA family. We are dedicated to serving all of our clientele — whether they have older machines, want to buy new machines, or require service or technical back-up.”

During the WWFE, Menting said MAJA is taking a new direction in the marketplace with a new line of robotics, as well as exact-weight, portion- control, high-speed slicing technology. The KR-15 wash-down stainless steel robot, introduced to the North American market during the WWFE, was designed through a joint venture with the largest and oldest robotics manufacturer in Germany — KUKA Robotics. This pcbased machine, which is made to assist in processing, features optical vision. Thus far this robot has produced skewers of shish kabobs for one German processor and will be packing off pork bellies for an American processor in the near future. In the latter application, the head of the robot grips the belly and lifts it from the conveyor, spins it around 180 degrees, and packs it into a combo. It then turns in an empty combo and begins the process again. Each robot is pre-programmed for a designated project.

MAJA ‘s FP 100 slicer employs the same type of user-friendly technology as its robots. The FP 100 was designed for exact-weight portioning of fresh, boneless meat products. The weight accuracy and excellent cut is unique in the industry, Menting says.

Products that can be sliced include fresh pork (loin, chest, top round and silverside, parts of the leg, haunch, and neck), as well as various cuts of fresh beef.

MAJA’s Genius is another new high-speed slicing innovation designed for fresh, boneless meat. This high-speed, exact-weight slicer measures the volume by laser vision and cuts up to 400 slices a minute. Weighing accuracy is within approximately 4 percent. The Genius determines the density of the meat so the optical electronics system knows how big it is after measuring. It passes this information to the cutting device and then slices the meat into a controlled, high-speed fashion.