About Us – Company Timeline

In 1989 Gerard Muckian formed GM Steel Ltd as he saw a growing potential in the meat slaughtering industry to provide better quality abattoir equipment.

GM Steel Ltd originally formed with a 4000 sq ft premises and 8 Staff we now have three separate office locations in England and Ireland with a staff of 100.

  • Installed our first complete 300 per hour lamb slaughtering line at Kepak Hacketstown in 1991.
  • Installed our first 50 per hour beef slaughtering system at Irish Country Meats, Ballyhaunis in 1994.
  • Carried out our first overseas contracts in Iceland in 1996.
  • Purchased Abachem Engineering in 1999. In doing so we acquired our own brand of aluminium bi-rail.
  • Completed first Turnkey/Greenfield project for St Merryn Meats at MerthyrTydfil in 2001.
  • Achieved ISO 9002 accreditation in 2002. In 2002, designed and built 2500 lamb capacity pre-chiller for Dungannon Meats: This is the largest of its kind in Europe.
  • Purchased Approved Design Limited in 2014.

The company timeline highlights the amalgamation of material and expertise which has strengthened the GM Steel brand making it one of the market leaders in manufacturing and supplying the meat production and processing industries.

European Regional Development Fund

New Project: Employment of a Key Worker

Project Description
Employment of a Strategic Business Development Manager

Role
The Business Development Manager’s role is to improve an organization’s strategic market position and achieve
financial growth.

Aims

  • The aims of the new post are;
    To improve an organization’s market position and achieve financial growth
  • Defines long-term organizational strategic goals
  • Builds key customer relationships
  • Identifies business opportunities
  • Negotiates and closes business deals and maintains extensive knowledge of current market conditions.

Results
A successful applicant has been employed.

Enterprise Ireland
European Regional Development Fund

New Project: R & D Grant

Project Description:

Development of the OPTICUT system

GM Steel Fabricators Limited in cooperation with LENZ Instruments [LENS], Barcelona, Spain and financial assistance from European Regional Development Fund are developing a semiautomatic system based on a Fibre Optic Vis/NIR probe suitable for primal cut inspection at carcass level at production speeds of 600 primal units per hour. This new product is being developed through the Research Development and Initiative programme.

The water-holding capacity [WHC] of fresh meat, defined as the ability to retain inherent water, is an important property of fresh meat as it affects both the % yield and the quality of the end product. This characteristic can be described in several ways, but in fresh products that have not been extensively processed, it is often described as drip loss. Meat products with poor WHC, look unattractive for the consumer, have a high potential of spoilage and display poor processing characteristics, such as reduced yield in the cooking and curing processes and supports the presence of soft textures resulting in broken slices during high speed cutting.

Aims

The development of a reliable instrument that can predict, quantify and valuate this WHC in the abrasive processing environments of slaughtering and further processing will be a great asset for food processing plants. All the parts forming the OPTICUT system (under development) have been designed with consideration to manufacturability, reliability, the protection index (IP67) and hygienic design aspects.

Results

The project has resulted in the development of, several prototype units, but not as yet for general sale as the prototypes require additional refinements.

European Regional Development Fund

New Project: R & D Grant

Project Description: 

A Research and Development Grant has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund in  2014 under the Research and Development Fund.

The Project was to develop a number of prototype automation equipment / units suitable for the abattoir industry.

Aims:

The aim was to develop equipment that could perform the harder dangerous tasks within the abattoir similar to humans and at a sustainable rate.

Results:

The project has resulted in the development of, several prototype units, but not as yet for general sale as the prototypes require additional refinements.

New Project: R & D Grant

Project Description:

Development of a number of “prototype automation equipment” for the abattoir industry.

Aims:

  • To develop a series of automated or semi automated units that when introduced into a lamb / sheep  slaughtering scenario will increase productivity and operative safety
  • The unit will have the capacity to operate at 400 to 600 carcases per hour
  • To increase competitive advantage within international markets through a new range of products
  • To meet International Food Quality Standards
  • Further develop staff skills within the R & D framework

Results:

Specific equipment has been developed and is undergoing field trials.

Field trials at present indicate that the prototypes require additional refinements to be successful in the stated aims.

Clients

  • Dungannon Meats Group
  • Dawn Meats Group
  • St Merryn Meats Group
  • Anglo Group (ABP and AIBP)
  • Kepak Group
  • Welsh Country Foods
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