An interchangeable hook-and-bracket system for a manufacturing process is disclosed. The interchangeable hook-and-bracket system may be configured to cooperate with a vertical conveying system of a food-processing system. Interchangeable hooks of the conveyor system may comprise hook portions and bracket portions that may be configured to releasably attach to one another. The bracket portions may be made substantially of a structurally robust material such as a metal and may be non-releasably attached to the conveyor system, and the hook portions may be made substantially of a flexible material such as a polymer-based material. More than one hook portion may correspond to a bracket portion, each hook portion having a configuration corresponding to a particular product, casing, throughput, and/or process condition.

An interchangeable hook-and-bracket system for a manufacturing process is disclosed. The interchangeable hook-and-bracket system may be configured to cooperate with a vertical conveying system of a food-processing system. Interchangeable hooks of the conveyor system may comprise hook portions and bracket portions that may be configured to releasably attach to one another. The bracket portions may be made substantially of a structurally robust material such as a metal and may be non-releasably attached to the conveyor system, and the hook portions may be made substantially of a flexible material such as a polymer-based material. More than one hook portion may correspond to a bracket portion, each hook portion having a configuration corresponding to a particular product, casing, throughput, and/or process condition.

Provided, is a fully integrated system to monitor and control carcass weight to minimize weight loss in carcasses during the chilling cycle. This will be accomplished by incorporating a load cell and a radio frequency identification device on the trolley operating on the elevated track system extending through the packing plant, including the carcass chilling rooms. This method and apparatus will provide the needed location and weight data to control a water spray system to maintain a constant carcass weight during the entire chilling cycle.

The identification tag is provided in a general horseshoe shape with resilient prongs engageable to a shaft such as a shaft of a pulley-mounted hook at a beginning of a processing line. The identification tag can be used to track a product throughout the processing line.

A tool having a detectable wireless marker or tag is provided. The tool has a working portion with a projection or tang by which the working portion of the tool is held, a wireless tag located near the tang, and a handle disposed over and encompassing the tang and the tag. In one embodiment, an article is formed onto the tang. The article includes a side opening in the form of a downwardly sloped slot sized to securely anchor and partially encompass the tag, which extends above and beyond the tang contained within the article. The invention allows for the use of fragile tags, which are protected by the inventive article from temperatures and pressures used during, for example, tool handle manufacturing processes. Also provided is a method for providing a tool with a detectable wireless tag, and a method for tracking and tracing tools used within a packaging facility.

A method comprises: receiving meat having an animal identifier, transporting the meat or a first meat portion on a conveyor during a process, sensors being positioned along the conveyor, and the meat and the first meat portion not being physically marked with the animal identifier; receiving sensor outputs during the process each characterizing the meat or the first meat portion; assigning, by a frontend component implemented using a first processor and a first memory, native identifiers to the meat or to the first meat portion using the sensor outputs; defining, by the frontend component, events regarding the process, the events being defined based on heuristics about the meat or the first meat portion; and storing, by an identifier manager implemented using a second processor and a second memory, the events in an append-only database, wherein the append-only database associates the native identifiers with the animal identifier.