TOP 10

Company of The Year

FOOD PROCESSING

Nantsune

AND PACKAGING TECHSOLUTION PROVIDERS IN APAC - 2021

Ushering Automation to Food ProcessingW

hen it comes to the food processing
and packaging industry, automation
and robotics can play a massive role in
improving food safety, quality, and longterm profitability as they eliminate human interventions.
Currently, in Japan, as food manufacturers produce awide variety of products in small quantities, it is difficult
for them to automate their production lines due to theneed for reconfigurations each time the product changes.
However, in recent years, line automation has been rapidly
progressing due to the evolution of technology, including
robots. This is further augmented by the severe shortageof Japanese working labor. Set against this backdrop isJapan-based Nantsune, which offers automation lines
to manufacture products that form the core of the linesand develop automation technologies. “As a pioneer ofmeat slicer in Japan, we are exploring the possibility ofautomation in all food production processes by leveraging
our know-how.,” says Tsuneyuki Minami, President andCEO of Nantsune.
Nantsune’s journey began in 1925when Tsunejiro Minami establishedNanjo Cutlery Works. Soon he changed
the name to Nantsune Works in
1929, manufacturing and sellingthe world's first thinly sliced raw
meat slicer. With the penetration ofmeat-eating culture in Japan backthen, Nantsune has developed variousmachines. Subsequently, the company
expanded globally by exhibiting in overseas
tradeshows and meeting international
standards. Over the years, Nantsune has
established plants in China and Korea
to meet growing overseas
demands. Currently, thecompany is manufacturing
over 35 models to meetvarious needs around theworld, and respond tocustomer needs related toMasahiro Hashiguchi
various automation andlabor saving.

Cutters and Slicers for Every Food Packaging Need
Nantsune has introduced numerous tools for efficient andautomated food processing and packaging. The company’sSCORPION CM-230 allows the user to specify the positionof the thinly sliced product to be dished precisely on thefood tray. Similarly, Nantsune’s AIR-2K can reliably unseal
the poultry bag based on its proprietary methodology
without the use of costly 3D cameras and other sensors.
“With SCORPION CM-230 and AIR-2K, we have succeeded
in mechanizing the simple tasks of unpacking and serving
food, which require proper handling by human eyes andsenses,” says Masahiro Hashiguchi, R&D General Managerand Executive Officer of Nantsune. On the other hand,
the LIBRA series can cut irregularly shaped meat logs in
fixed weight with a maximum error of ±5 percent, which isgenerally considered difficult even for skilled labor. All of
the machines offered by Nantsune boast of excellent cost
performance based on standard functions that performthe required tasks, rather than equipping with fancy
functions that go unused. As a result, customers havefewer barriers to implement these machines aspart of their driving force to mechanicalize andautomate their production lines.
Giving the example of a recent
implementation, Hashiguchi talks about aclient that manually carried out the task of
dividing the poultry into 250-gram portions
from a readymade 2 kg pack and then placing
them on trays after dehydration. This task
in itself was chaotic, messy, and involved anumber of workers. After introducing AIR-2K,
the only thing the client had to do was set thesealed poultry bags into AIR-2K, and thetask would be carried out. In
addition, only containers
for sealed poultry bags
were required in thework area, eliminating
the need to clean
containers forpoultry products
during or before
dehydrating,AIR-2K showcasing in Nantsune's virtual showroom

Nantsune isworking toward
the ideal of one
day realizing
a completely
unmanned foodfactory, and thebasic technology
and total solution
supportingthat factory
will be steadily
incorporated intoproducts andservices one after
another

SCORPIO N CM-230 dishing the meet to the food tray

sorting, and serving. Most importantly,
workplace congestion is solved dueto the elimination of workers andcontainers in part of the process. “Interms of automation result, we have
reduced 4 workers out of the original 10
under the same production level where
now only two workers for carrying andloading sealed poultry bags, and four
for sorting and serving the dehydrated
poultry came out of the machine,” adds
Hashiguchi.
Innovation at the Fore
Noting such exemplary results,Nantsune has also figured out a way tonavigate the current pandemic-related
challenges. Due to the pandemic, themeans of communicating and promoting
to domestic and global customers
changed drastically. Instead of investingin virtual events where customization
is limited, Nantsune has developed
its virtual showroom platform wherevisitors can have that exhibition-like
exciting experience while getting toknow its products and solutions moreinteractively and comprehensively byutilizing technologies like AR. Minami
believes that in the future, it will be
important to strategically combine
and promote the existing real andvirtual exhibitions. “We thoroughly

listen to the voice of our customers andunderstand the level of personalization
they want. We believe that it isimportant to deliver products that canexceed customer expectations without
excessive functions and quality.”
In fact, the company’s competitive
advantage lies not only in the creationof machines but also in the engineeringof its customers' processing plants asa whole. The company also provides
consulting to its customers on how tocreate more profitable food products andnew tasty products. “By combining all of
our offerings as a total solution, we cancreate products and services that exceed
the imagination of our customers," says
Minami.
Holding on to customer service
as key, Nantsune is looking at
expanding its business in Asia as a
total engineering solution company
that contributes to the whole foodproduction processes and not limited
to just the sale of individual machinesand quality improvement. “Nantsuneis working toward the ideal of one
day realizing a completely unmanned
food factory, and the basic technology
and total solution supporting thatfactory will be steadily incorporated
into products and services one after
another,” adds Hashiguchi.