Final Report Summary - TRANSUS (A Novel Transport System for Slaughter Pigs)
Executive Summary:
There is considerable concern about the effects of transport and associated handling on the welfare of animals. Consumers are now demanding better treatment of animals in the whole production chain including transport. The transport distance of pigs by road from a farm to the slaughterhouse is expanding because of the economic opportunities for long distance and international trade, improved infrastructure and increased demand for live animals for fattening and slaughtering. Hence, the proposed TRANSUS idea is a revolutionary new concept for the transport of a group of pigs, i.e. to use the concept of standardized container transport. The aim of the TRANSUS system is to reduce direct pig handling to a minimum: reduce time for loading and unloading pigs to the transport, reduce the stress levels that pigs experience and improve the hygiene in the pig sector. During the project development project partners focussed on two initial tasks: a market requirements study, in which the minimum requirements from a user perspective have been collected, and technical specifications in which these requirements, as well as general technical requirements, have been translated in a design brief. In order to create the best possible transport concept, pig-related issues have been taken into account, such as handling pigs, behaviour, stress factors, welfare, and meat quality. Final system integration concept includes the entire logistic chain (container handling, storage, stacking for farm to slaughterhouse) including all veterinary, hygiene, etc. requirements.
Project Context and Objectives:
There is considerable concern about the effects of transport and associated handling on the welfare of animals. Consumers are now demanding better treatment of animals in the whole production chain including transport. The transport distance of pigs by road from a farm to the slaughterhouse is expanding because of the economic opportunities for long distance and international trade, improved infrastructure and increased demand for live animals for fattening and slaughtering. Within the EU, free movement of animals from one Member State to another and more uniformity in slaughter weight and quality requirements has resulted in more long distance travel to slaughter. Regulations to protect animals during transport are laid down in Council Regulation 1/2005 and in national legislation.
The pig industry is largely driven by economic factors. Losses during transport of pigs to the slaughter plant amount to 0.5-0.8% on average due to dead and non-ambulatory pigs. With the current number of pigs being slaughtered in the EU-27 of about 250 million pigs per year, transport losses represent a significant financial loss to the EU swine industry in the order of €200 million annually. A similar percentage exists in the USA. The transport losses are accepted, however, simply because solutions to reduce these costs cost more (or are perceived to cost more) than they gain. This also explains why research in this area have only begun relatively late, mainly driven by animal welfare concerns, and the major causal factors involved have not been fully established.
However, there is general scientific consensus that a significant proportion of transport losses result from the pig’s response to the stress of transportation. A large variety of factors have been found to increase the stress levels experienced by the pig during the journey, in particular: (a) rough treatment by staff during loading and unloading, (b) changing the pig’s known and secure environment, (c) weather conditions (temperature, air velocity, humidity) during the journey, (d) the fitness of the pig, (e) unexpected truck movements during the journey, (f) mixing of pigs from different groups, (g) duration of the trip, and (h) overloading of pigs on the trailer. Furthermore, handling at the slaughterhouse causes stress to the pigs, in particular in lairage, and during internal transport at the slaughterhouse until stunning.
Hence, the proposed TRANSUS idea is a revolutionary new concept for the transport of a group of pigs, i.e. to use the concept of standardized container transport. The aim of the TRANSUS system is to reduce direct pig handling to a minimum: reduce time for loading and unloading pigs to the transport, reduce the stress levels that pigs experience and improve the hygiene in the pig sector.
The overarching goal of TRANSUS is to develop an easy-to-handle transport container that enables the efficient transport of slaughter pigs from farm to slaughterhouse, taking into account animal welfare and hygiene requirements. The benefits of this concept can be summarised as follows:
• Loading and unloading of individual pigs can be done offline, i.e. don’t have to be done while the truck is waiting: loading is done at ground level, independent of the transport truck. This ensures that the truck loading and unloading times are significantly reduced, a clear economic benefit in cases where transport distances are relatively small. Moreover, loading of the individual pigs into the transport container (and unloading from the transport container at the abattoir for that matter) can be carried out without time pressure.
• Stress in pigs during transport is attributable to psychological stresses (handling and sudden changes in the physical environment) and to physical stresses (e.g. climbing ramps) to which the pig is not accustomed. With the TRANSUS system, the pigs can be introduced to the transport container in sufficient time prior to transport, meaning that the stress of handling can be reduced and that they can habituate to the new environment. Furthermore - as loading is done at ground level - the physical stresses associated with climbing ramps are reduced. Once in the container, the pigs do not need to be handled until they are ready for further processing at the slaughterhouse. Hence, pigs are subjected to fewer changes in their environment from the moment of loading for transport to the moment of slaughter and most importantly less physical effort is required of them. Consequently, stress levels in pigs arising from transport will be reduced by the TRANSUS system.
• Hygiene in the sector will improve, because cleaning of empty containers can be done offline, and the standardisation makes it possible to develop dedicated cleaning tools and equipment. Containers loaded on the farm can be brought to an area close to the road and away from the pig sties, thus the probability of cross-infection between farms (foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, etc) – the spread of which is largely attributed to transport movements – will be significantly reduced.
• The containers can be developed in a modular way, allowing optimised designs for expected group sizes, logistic handling at the farm and at the slaughterhouse, and cleaning/disinfection. The container module can be totally self-contained: if needed, animals can be provided with food and water, and urine and faeces can be collected, allowing containing the pigs in the container for a longer time.
The main scientific and technological objectives of TRANSUS are the following.
• To establish a set of parameters, enabling the engineering design of the transport container.
• To develop and manufacture a functional prototype.
• To validate the prototype functionality under real-world transport conditions.
Research is aimed at identifying and specifying the container parameters, critical for detailed engineering design.
Project Results:
Work progress
Most of the work in the initial phase of the project has been related to the TRANSUS literature review, system definition and pig technology research. During the second reporting period TRANSUS work was mainly related with preparing container manufacturing and design drawing, manufacturing the prototype and testing it.
Although the container at first glance looks like a simple box, the reality is far more complex as the box has many requirements from a mechanical point of view, from animal welfare perspective and from an economical viewpoint. Project partners focussed on two initial tasks: a market requirements study, in which the minimum requirements from a user perspective have been collected, and technical specifications in which these requirements, as well as general technical requirements, have been translated in a design brief.
The technical specifications reflect the characteristics and limitations related to design (system requirements, laws of physics), and manufacturing (SME possibilities). The current and emerging customer needs and requirements have been analysed and prioritised, and where possible quantified in min/max ranges. Also, road transport requirements have been researched, including dynamic behaviour (vibrations), external conditions (wind, snow, etc), vehicle design aspects (ventilation, insulation, etc).
In order to create the best possible transport concept, pig-related issues have been taken into account, such as handling pigs, behaviour, stress factors, welfare, and meat quality. An extensive literature study has been carried out to ensure all relevant research findings in relation to the transport of a group of pigs have been taken into account.
As, the idea of the project was to mitigate fluctuating temperatures during transport and standstill by using Phase Change Materials (PCMs), the internal climate of the container has been researched. However, research of the properties of PCMs performed by Re/gent demonstrated that there was no practical way to implement the use of these materials into the containers. Also the required effect would be short term, probably insufficient for all conceived journeys. The final factor was that of weight. In conjunction with research, the additional weight of significant quantities (140 kg of PCMs is too high in relation to weight of the container) of these materials being transported would be too much for legal requirements for most EU countries or limit the number of pigs able to be carried. Current state of the art systems were presented and it was agreed that these offered the optimised non-PCM methods of cooling pigs if required.
Final system integration concept includes the entire logistic chain (container handling, storage, stacking for farm to slaughterhouse) including all veterinary, hygiene, etc. requirements.
Further research involved the designing and manufacturing of the prototype according to the main TRANSUS concept. This research revealed a greater number of requirements than initially envisaged and barriers to adoption of the system, predominantly from the farm side of the system. By adopting a detailed and exhaustive evaluation of loading systems and concepts a viable solution was reached.
One principle system for collecting pig from the farm was that clean containers could be offloaded on farm which would be kept for subsequent collections of pigs and containers with pigs in could then be loaded on to the lorry. The second was that the containers could be offloaded and filled with pigs, then reloaded onto the lorry. Both concept were ruled out and the concept most likely to be accepted was similar to the existing systems whereby a rear tail lift is utilised to load pigs, but with an extension on the side of the lorry where pigs could be marshalled along a balcony into the TRANSUS container on the lorry.
If loading of pigs deviated from the original plan then Off-loading of pigs at Abattoir was found to be less critical. This is because whereas the concept for loading pigs has to cater for wide and varied standards of farms, the implementation of use of the container in the abattoir requires construction of bespoke facilities. A significant investment to implement the system is envisaged, and therefore dedicated handling and storage and cleaning systems would be constructed.
The systematic research of specifications, loading systems, materials and regulations enabled the creation of the concepts developed. The progressively enabled development of engineered designs and subsequently prototypes has been developed.
In order to facilitate more thorough testing of the concept and prototype it was concluded that a better approach would be to manufacture scale correct steel containers for testing with Pigs and to manufacture a separate two Aluminium containers as per the materials specification for testing without pigs. The testing protocol required that 2 containers would be utilised to test different loading positions on the lorry. These containers were dimensionally correct and fitted with the composited panels sourced and modelled.
During the last stage of the product development, the thorough test with and without pigs were performed.
Primarily, an experimentally-adjusted Finite Element Model of the prototype, that reproduces the mechanical behaviour (both static and dynamic) of the chosen design for the container’s prototype, was obtained. This FEM also enabled to simulate the behaviour of the eventual improvements that can be introduced in the prototype. The multiple experimental tests of the prototype made it possible to evaluate the proposed design, identifying weak spots. The main conclusions of The road transport system laboratory testing:
• The main objective of the performed tests was the validation of the system from the point of view of its mechanical integrity when subjected to the efforts and loads associated to the road transport. This was done by means of both numerical and experimental testing.
• The Finite Element Model of the TRANSUS container was developed; it was adjusted and used for testing. It is also foreseen its utility in the future optimization stages prior to the final mass production and commercialisation.
• Both numerical and experimental test under static loads were carried out on the prototype in order to ensure the container’s strength and stiffness during transport and handling operations, following the guidelines container in the ISO 1496-1. Although residual deformations were observed after the completion of the tests under static loads, the mechanical integrity of the prototype was proved. The stresses obtained by means of numerical simulations were within the limits. Test recommendations were to pay attention to the welding manufacturing process in order to avoid residual deformation in the local yield points in specific weak welding areas
• Regarding the dynamic behaviour of the prototype, both experimental and numerical modal analyses were performed. It was concluded that the natural frequencies of the container are sufficiently apart from both the road excitation spectral peaks and from the frequencies associated with discomfort experienced by transported pigs.
• Because of ventilation requirements, the container walls are mostly open. Accordingly, acoustic tests were carried out in order to assess the acoustic properties of the wall panels. The results showed that the panels have low sound absorption coefficient and therefore act mainly as sound barriers. The use of more sound-absorbing panels could be an option, but this would be in detriment of other requirements such as endurance and easiness of cleaning.
• From the above, is was concluded that the TRANSUS system is validated from the point of view of its mechanical behaviour, in terms of structural integrity and dynamic behaviour for the pig road transport.
Further, the pig welfare and behaviour assessment tests were performed in real life situations, which brought handful information on the actual container performance. Extensive research with pigs was then compared to the initial plan of performance and with the information provided within the literature. The main conclusions of the tests with pigs are provided below:
• In the current test pigs in both treatments were mixed prior to transport and the stress of this could have overshadowed any potential benefit associated with transportation in TRANSUS. It is known that major stress associated with transporting pigs for slaughter is linked to mixing of unfamiliar animals. Indeed the stress the pigs were under prior to transport is reflected in the mean heart rates recorded in the pre-transport pens. These did not differ much from the heart rates recorded during loading. In TRANSUS the ceiling height was 90cm and therefore comparable to the ceiling height in typical three tier trucks used to transport pigs to slaughter. However, the ceiling height in the conventional truck having only two tiers, was considerably greater than 90cm. This could have mitigated unfavourably towards the TRANSUS pigs as the result of pilot tests outlined in D2.1 indicated that higher ceiling heights are better for pig welfare during transportation. It was proposed to change the initially plan of height of ceiling and to increase TRANSUS container ceiling.The low occurrence of slip, falls and refusals in general across the five test days reflects the gentleness and calmness with which the pigs were loaded and unloaded in both treatments. This illustrates that handling would not have negatively impacted on the physiological and meat quality measurements. Nevertheless there was considerably more pre-slaughter handling of these test pigs than would normally occur under commercial conditions. This was associated with fitting hear rate monitors, weighing and marking the pigs.
• Entire male pigs were used in this study as male pigs are not castrated in Ireland. Entire males are in general more aggressive than castrates which are produced on the continent. Furthermore, being sexually mature at the time of slaughter they also perform sexual behaviour in the form of mounting. This behaviour appeared to be stimulated by mixing with unfamiliar animals. Furthermore as the unfamiliar animals were primarily females this further aggravated the performance of sexual behaviour.
• Some interesting differences between the genders were found. Notably drip loss which is an unfavourable characteristic of pig meat post mortem was significantly higher in the males. This would suggest that the entire male pigs were more susceptible to stress during the pre-slaughter process than female pigs.
The performance assessment shows general interest in a system consisting of boxes from farm to slaughter included. The end consumers have positively evaluated the TRANSUS container system, especially abattoirs and transporters have noted the benefit of TRANSUS system when it is fully integrated. After the evaluation of the TRANSUS system, it was approved for the exploitation. The main TRANSUS success factors and achievements are described below:
• Reduced stress in the pigs:
o Target part wise achieved: The almost complete absence of treatment differences in this well controlled, replicated and rigorously conducted study leads to the conclusion that pig welfare was at least as good in TRANSUS as it was under conventional transportation, thus the following was recorded: More incidences of aggression in the conventional truck. More incidences of mounting and hitting the ceiling in TRANSUS. High number of vocalisations recorded in TRANSUS pigs at loading. The goal in TRANSUS was to load prior to driving and this was not done during the test of practical reasons. There was no significant effect of treatment on skin temperatures, on the skin lesion scores and on the heart rate.
• Improved pigs well-being / comfort:
o No significant effect.
• Good cleanability:
o Target achieved: leaning time today for a vehicle containing 200 to 230 pigs last approx. 1 hour. A bed on a vehicle can be cleaned in approx. 30 minutes.
• No visual presence of dirt, manure, etc:
o Target part wise achieved: After test driving the boxes was cleaned manually and the result (visible) was not better than a conventional vehicle. Taken into consideration that the TRANSUS system is giving most benefit as an integrated abattoir system and that cleaning can take place here then the goal can be expected to be achieved.
• Less time required for transport:
o Target part wise achieved: Loading with the use of TRANSUS boxes do not save time compared to a conventional vehicle (the time is the same approx. ½ hour). Unloading TRANSUS boxes as a part of an integrated abattoir system will reduce time. Unloading a vehicle of 200 to 230 pigs will normally last ½ hour, while it can be made in 10 minutes. Seen as a whole the conventional use 1 hour and TRANSUS (as an optimized and integrated system) is expected to use a total time of 40 minutes, then the goal is reached.
• Less labour needed for animal handling at the abattoir:
o Target ‘achieved’: With TRANSUS as an integrated part of the abattoir system the goal has been reached. An operator is needed to take care of incoming pigs to control the welfare assessment of the animals and this requirement was not in force when TRANSUS was started up but was a part of the new EU legislation for slaughtering of animals (EU 1099/2009, in force 1st of January 2013), otherwise the goal would have been reached while unloading could have taken place without an operator from the abattoir.
• Less time required for the cleaning:
o Target achieved: Approx. ½ hour is saved of a total of 1 hour. It is required that the TRANSUS system is an integrated part of the abattoir system and an automatic system situated at the abattoir must be invented and installed.
• Improved meat quality indicators (insofar they relate to pig handling and transport):
o Target achieved: There was a significant effect of treatment, day and an interaction between treatment and day (P<0.05) on the pH of the semimembranosus 22 hours post slaughter. Conventionally transported pigs had higher values for this measure compared to TRANSUS pigs. However, in the absence of any other differences in meat quality measurements it is difficult to suggest a biologically plausible explanation for this difference, but in general the lower level indicates better handling.
TRANSUS results
The TRANSUS project has several results that are commercially valuable and exploitable: full TRANSUS design document, full TRANSUS manufacturing document and validated TRANSUS system.
TRANSUS container design and manufacturing documents consists of series of CAD drawings with details of container design and specifications of manufacturing. The container prototype itself consists of optimally selected side wall panels, roof, corner profiles, floor panels, forklift pocket beams and threshold beams.
Container prototype was primarily used for detailed testing. One aluminum prototype was sent to University of Cantabria where tests of strength and tests under dynamic loads have been performed. Second aluminum container was sent to Teknologisk Institut to test durability. Additionally three steel prototypes were made of which one was only a dummy. These prototypes were sent to TEAGASC Company in order to test the behaviour of pigs in the boxes during transportation.
After the tests were performed the final design of the container was chosen. TRANSUS container consists of optimally selected side wall panels, roof, corner profiles, floor panels, forklift pocket beams and threshold beams.
The final TRANSUS product is supposed to be used for the pig transportation by livestock transporters, abattoirs and farmers. According to the market study results, users would get the benefit of TRANSUS containers if the whole system would be installed (vehicles, TRANSUS containers, unloading system on the ramp, lairage system, stunner, container washing facilities, installation and control system, buildings). The system would be a beneficial decision when constructing from scratch or similar situation occurs.
Whilst the TRANSUS project focused on the functional aspects of the device, further work is largely related to developing a commercial, full compliant and appealing prototype.
Potential Impact:
Potential impact on animal welfare and potential benefit for the end user
From the animal welfare perspective TRANSUS system lessens the number of incidences of aggression for pigs, significantly reduces the time of cleaning, and increases the level of hygiene. Additionally, the research of pig meat shows that pigs transported within TRANSUS system have been better handled than the pigs in the conventional transport.
From the time consumption perspective the TRANSUS system significantly reduces time of pig handling, pig unloading and cleaning time.
From the user perspective the system is more attractive for abattoirs, while hauliers alone do not save enough time or benefit financially from TRANSUS system if it is not integrated together with abattoir. With a slaughter speed of 400 and 800 pigs per hour (one shift) the pay-back period for the integrated TRANSUS system is 4 and 2.2 years accordingly.
Impact on ethical and gender issues
Throughout the duration of the project, there were no known ethical or gender issues and, considering project subject, it is not likely to occur in the future. Although equality of rights is not directly expressed in project objectives and tasks, equal rights are ensured between all project Partners for both male and female participants, disregarding their social status, religion, race, physical or mental disorder and any other characteristic.
The main dissemination activities
A policy of wide dissemination of project results has been pursued in particular focused on potential end users of the project results, i.e. farmers, transporters, traders, and slaughterhouses. Also, supporting organizations, such as veterinary doctors, pig farming associations, meat processing associations, animal feed organizations, and agricultural research organizations, veterinary inspections, consultants, etc., have been targeted. This last group in particular plays an important role as they have usually strong working relationships with the farmers and abattoirs, and their opinion bears a lot of weight. Both groups have been contacted and communicated during the events participated and through web-based media. Additionally, scientific information was communicated as supporting proof of the concept.
Project dissemination actions were aimed to:
• Create awareness about the TRANSUS project on European and national levels;
• Motivate the partners and any interested parties to collaborate;
• Inform researchers and pig transportation sector players about TRANSUS project results to facilitate the future implementation of results through planning deployment of innovative pig transportation technology.
Dissemination activities have been planned in accordance with stage of the developments in the project. The dissemination was done by means of:
• Project presentation by dissemination of the written information (leaflets, scientific articles, etc.);
• Project Web site;
• Participation in conferences, exhibitions and trade shows;
• Business meetings;
• Scientific exchange.
The consortium organized different meetings and sessions and an integral part of the dissemination activities was also the cooperation with other EU projects, organizations and professionals working in the field of common interest. These dissemination opportunities represent general dissemination channels.
The selection of the appropriate channels accords with both the TRANSUS objectives and with the development stage of the project. With respect to character of TRANSUS project the following dissemination channels were selected and developed in this dissemination strategy:
• Conferences and trade shows;
• Networking;
• Internet based communication.
Conferences and trade shows. A summary of dissemination events where TRANSUS has been presented. International exhibitions and conferences often attract many participants from companies that represent TRANSUS target group. Such business environment will enable TRANSUS team to directly contact potential clients and influencers. Contacting representatives from the target companies will ensure that the information will be faster delivered to the decision makes of the company. Media will be introduced to the new TRANSUS team and its product. Accordingly, the information about TRANSUS will be delivered through various communications (newspapers, magazines, web-based media of countries countries) which will expose TRANSUS to the greater audience.
Networking. Networking was performed during each conference and trade show. Networking enables TRANSUS team to directly contact potential clients. Contacting representatives from the target companies will ensure that the information will be faster delivered to the purchase decision makers of the company.
Internet based communication. The project was mainly disseminated through the project website; additionally project consortium was preparing press releases related with TRANSUS project for their companies’ websites.
TRANSUS website. To disseminate the results and all the information about TRANSUS project, a website was created as a main dissemination tool of the project (available at http://transus.net/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)). It serves to inform the stakeholders, scientific community as well as any other interested third parties on the project goals and objectives. Information on the project results achieved and the activities performed is also available within the website.
TRANSUS logo. The logo identifies the project and makes it recognizable among other projects, so the project gets its own identity also this way. The project logo is to be included on all materials and other documents concerning project dissemination and is distributed through printed promotional materials and via Internet on various occasions continuously throughout the whole life of the project.
TRANSUS leaflet. The leaflet is compiled to serve as a tool for the dissemination of the project at external events. It presents the project idea, consortium, which implements the project and results to be achieved at the end. Leaflets are advantageous to use in exhibitions, conferences and business meetings, because leaflets allow potential clients to later look through TRANSUS information again. This prevents loosing potential clients due to lack of information provided.
Exploitation approach and strategy
The TRANSUS exploitation approach attempts in depth investigation of the full spectrum of exploitation opportunities – not just product development and commercialization, but involves all the partners independently of their profile and position in supply chain in the exploitation efforts based on their nature and type of activities, as well as their stated individual exploitation perspectives concerning the project results.
Although exploitation evolved in parallel with the technical work, it offers a different view of the project results and supports the partners to think about the results more from a market perspective and identify exactly what they have to offer as well as find and reveal the value of the results for the business and scientific world. The basis for commercial products, such exploitation opportunities could include:
• Developing new services based on the prototypes, methods and tools.
• Creating start-up businesses to commercialize results.
• Protecting results through patents and IPR agreements.
• Inputting to standardization and legislative activities.
• Feeding RTD results and know-how into further research.
• Feeding RTD results and know-how into national or industrial research projects.
The exploitation potential of the project depends mainly on the following critical parameters that are assessed during the project lifetime:
• The project results:
o The nature of the results (research approaches or concrete prototypes);
o The degree of innovation (proof of concepts using mature, but risking to be outdated technologies, or forward the state of the art exploiting cutting edge but immature technologies);
o The quality of the results (results that perform just what they promise, or better than expected (easier and faster for example), and
o Their applicability in the market (they might be the perfect results but not applicable to the market).
• The project partners:
o The perspectives and the expectations of each partner from the project.
o The continuous commitment of each partner.
• The market:
o The maturity and the trends.
o The movements and the role of the leaders.
o The “customers” needs.
All SMEs will have ownership of their respective result. The final share of the results for each participating SME is further defined according their contribution to the project.
Overall exploitation strategy
The partners have anticipated co-operation into commercial applications in the future. At the end of the project, manufacturing partners of the Consortium will manufacture and market the resulting container for pig transport applications, and Coordinator company will market manufacturing licenses internationally. The remaining partners will serve as a test bed for future generations of the TRANSUS system. In return, they will receive media exposure, and future generation models against a significant discount. All SME participants will receive royalties of 5% of the selling price generated by the project results, pro rata the input they provided, counting both pre-project efforts and investments, and efforts/investments during the project. The use and monitoring of the IPR issues derived from the shared and individual contribution of the partners into the creation of the exploitation assets will ensure that there is a clear understanding and agreement of the ownership of the assets, thus avoiding any potential conflict in the consortium.
For the product to be successful in the highly competitive pig transportation industry the market strategy has to be both clever and well capitalised. The marketing strategy needs to be fully interwoven with the investment strategy to make sure that the product will come to the attention of the farmers and that it will actually sell at a profit.
Breakthroughs in product technology and changes of sales patterns with regard to revolutionary products are known to be very slow initially, and then, for the successful products, there tends to be a sudden rapid increase in sales. To ensure successful marketing of the product, the group of companies developing the TRANSUS system needs to have the capacity and capital to be able to: (1) create a sales boost and (2) respond to the rapid increase in demand (production and cash flow).
The SMEs anticipate to work further together to commercialise the TRANSUS container for a period of another 48 months before the technology is ready for market introduction. Whilst the TRANSUS project focused on the functional aspects of the device, further work is largely related to developing a commercial, full compliant, and appealing prototype.
List of Websites:
The further information about TRANSUS project can be accessed online at http://transus.net/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana).
There is considerable concern about the effects of transport and associated handling on the welfare of animals. Consumers are now demanding better treatment of animals in the whole production chain including transport. The transport distance of pigs by road from a farm to the slaughterhouse is expanding because of the economic opportunities for long distance and international trade, improved infrastructure and increased demand for live animals for fattening and slaughtering. Hence, the proposed TRANSUS idea is a revolutionary new concept for the transport of a group of pigs, i.e. to use the concept of standardized container transport. The aim of the TRANSUS system is to reduce direct pig handling to a minimum: reduce time for loading and unloading pigs to the transport, reduce the stress levels that pigs experience and improve the hygiene in the pig sector. During the project development project partners focussed on two initial tasks: a market requirements study, in which the minimum requirements from a user perspective have been collected, and technical specifications in which these requirements, as well as general technical requirements, have been translated in a design brief. In order to create the best possible transport concept, pig-related issues have been taken into account, such as handling pigs, behaviour, stress factors, welfare, and meat quality. Final system integration concept includes the entire logistic chain (container handling, storage, stacking for farm to slaughterhouse) including all veterinary, hygiene, etc. requirements.
Project Context and Objectives:
There is considerable concern about the effects of transport and associated handling on the welfare of animals. Consumers are now demanding better treatment of animals in the whole production chain including transport. The transport distance of pigs by road from a farm to the slaughterhouse is expanding because of the economic opportunities for long distance and international trade, improved infrastructure and increased demand for live animals for fattening and slaughtering. Within the EU, free movement of animals from one Member State to another and more uniformity in slaughter weight and quality requirements has resulted in more long distance travel to slaughter. Regulations to protect animals during transport are laid down in Council Regulation 1/2005 and in national legislation.
The pig industry is largely driven by economic factors. Losses during transport of pigs to the slaughter plant amount to 0.5-0.8% on average due to dead and non-ambulatory pigs. With the current number of pigs being slaughtered in the EU-27 of about 250 million pigs per year, transport losses represent a significant financial loss to the EU swine industry in the order of €200 million annually. A similar percentage exists in the USA. The transport losses are accepted, however, simply because solutions to reduce these costs cost more (or are perceived to cost more) than they gain. This also explains why research in this area have only begun relatively late, mainly driven by animal welfare concerns, and the major causal factors involved have not been fully established.
However, there is general scientific consensus that a significant proportion of transport losses result from the pig’s response to the stress of transportation. A large variety of factors have been found to increase the stress levels experienced by the pig during the journey, in particular: (a) rough treatment by staff during loading and unloading, (b) changing the pig’s known and secure environment, (c) weather conditions (temperature, air velocity, humidity) during the journey, (d) the fitness of the pig, (e) unexpected truck movements during the journey, (f) mixing of pigs from different groups, (g) duration of the trip, and (h) overloading of pigs on the trailer. Furthermore, handling at the slaughterhouse causes stress to the pigs, in particular in lairage, and during internal transport at the slaughterhouse until stunning.
Hence, the proposed TRANSUS idea is a revolutionary new concept for the transport of a group of pigs, i.e. to use the concept of standardized container transport. The aim of the TRANSUS system is to reduce direct pig handling to a minimum: reduce time for loading and unloading pigs to the transport, reduce the stress levels that pigs experience and improve the hygiene in the pig sector.
The overarching goal of TRANSUS is to develop an easy-to-handle transport container that enables the efficient transport of slaughter pigs from farm to slaughterhouse, taking into account animal welfare and hygiene requirements. The benefits of this concept can be summarised as follows:
• Loading and unloading of individual pigs can be done offline, i.e. don’t have to be done while the truck is waiting: loading is done at ground level, independent of the transport truck. This ensures that the truck loading and unloading times are significantly reduced, a clear economic benefit in cases where transport distances are relatively small. Moreover, loading of the individual pigs into the transport container (and unloading from the transport container at the abattoir for that matter) can be carried out without time pressure.
• Stress in pigs during transport is attributable to psychological stresses (handling and sudden changes in the physical environment) and to physical stresses (e.g. climbing ramps) to which the pig is not accustomed. With the TRANSUS system, the pigs can be introduced to the transport container in sufficient time prior to transport, meaning that the stress of handling can be reduced and that they can habituate to the new environment. Furthermore - as loading is done at ground level - the physical stresses associated with climbing ramps are reduced. Once in the container, the pigs do not need to be handled until they are ready for further processing at the slaughterhouse. Hence, pigs are subjected to fewer changes in their environment from the moment of loading for transport to the moment of slaughter and most importantly less physical effort is required of them. Consequently, stress levels in pigs arising from transport will be reduced by the TRANSUS system.
• Hygiene in the sector will improve, because cleaning of empty containers can be done offline, and the standardisation makes it possible to develop dedicated cleaning tools and equipment. Containers loaded on the farm can be brought to an area close to the road and away from the pig sties, thus the probability of cross-infection between farms (foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, etc) – the spread of which is largely attributed to transport movements – will be significantly reduced.
• The containers can be developed in a modular way, allowing optimised designs for expected group sizes, logistic handling at the farm and at the slaughterhouse, and cleaning/disinfection. The container module can be totally self-contained: if needed, animals can be provided with food and water, and urine and faeces can be collected, allowing containing the pigs in the container for a longer time.
The main scientific and technological objectives of TRANSUS are the following.
• To establish a set of parameters, enabling the engineering design of the transport container.
• To develop and manufacture a functional prototype.
• To validate the prototype functionality under real-world transport conditions.
Research is aimed at identifying and specifying the container parameters, critical for detailed engineering design.
Project Results:
Work progress
Most of the work in the initial phase of the project has been related to the TRANSUS literature review, system definition and pig technology research. During the second reporting period TRANSUS work was mainly related with preparing container manufacturing and design drawing, manufacturing the prototype and testing it.
Although the container at first glance looks like a simple box, the reality is far more complex as the box has many requirements from a mechanical point of view, from animal welfare perspective and from an economical viewpoint. Project partners focussed on two initial tasks: a market requirements study, in which the minimum requirements from a user perspective have been collected, and technical specifications in which these requirements, as well as general technical requirements, have been translated in a design brief.
The technical specifications reflect the characteristics and limitations related to design (system requirements, laws of physics), and manufacturing (SME possibilities). The current and emerging customer needs and requirements have been analysed and prioritised, and where possible quantified in min/max ranges. Also, road transport requirements have been researched, including dynamic behaviour (vibrations), external conditions (wind, snow, etc), vehicle design aspects (ventilation, insulation, etc).
In order to create the best possible transport concept, pig-related issues have been taken into account, such as handling pigs, behaviour, stress factors, welfare, and meat quality. An extensive literature study has been carried out to ensure all relevant research findings in relation to the transport of a group of pigs have been taken into account.
As, the idea of the project was to mitigate fluctuating temperatures during transport and standstill by using Phase Change Materials (PCMs), the internal climate of the container has been researched. However, research of the properties of PCMs performed by Re/gent demonstrated that there was no practical way to implement the use of these materials into the containers. Also the required effect would be short term, probably insufficient for all conceived journeys. The final factor was that of weight. In conjunction with research, the additional weight of significant quantities (140 kg of PCMs is too high in relation to weight of the container) of these materials being transported would be too much for legal requirements for most EU countries or limit the number of pigs able to be carried. Current state of the art systems were presented and it was agreed that these offered the optimised non-PCM methods of cooling pigs if required.
Final system integration concept includes the entire logistic chain (container handling, storage, stacking for farm to slaughterhouse) including all veterinary, hygiene, etc. requirements.
Further research involved the designing and manufacturing of the prototype according to the main TRANSUS concept. This research revealed a greater number of requirements than initially envisaged and barriers to adoption of the system, predominantly from the farm side of the system. By adopting a detailed and exhaustive evaluation of loading systems and concepts a viable solution was reached.
One principle system for collecting pig from the farm was that clean containers could be offloaded on farm which would be kept for subsequent collections of pigs and containers with pigs in could then be loaded on to the lorry. The second was that the containers could be offloaded and filled with pigs, then reloaded onto the lorry. Both concept were ruled out and the concept most likely to be accepted was similar to the existing systems whereby a rear tail lift is utilised to load pigs, but with an extension on the side of the lorry where pigs could be marshalled along a balcony into the TRANSUS container on the lorry.
If loading of pigs deviated from the original plan then Off-loading of pigs at Abattoir was found to be less critical. This is because whereas the concept for loading pigs has to cater for wide and varied standards of farms, the implementation of use of the container in the abattoir requires construction of bespoke facilities. A significant investment to implement the system is envisaged, and therefore dedicated handling and storage and cleaning systems would be constructed.
The systematic research of specifications, loading systems, materials and regulations enabled the creation of the concepts developed. The progressively enabled development of engineered designs and subsequently prototypes has been developed.
In order to facilitate more thorough testing of the concept and prototype it was concluded that a better approach would be to manufacture scale correct steel containers for testing with Pigs and to manufacture a separate two Aluminium containers as per the materials specification for testing without pigs. The testing protocol required that 2 containers would be utilised to test different loading positions on the lorry. These containers were dimensionally correct and fitted with the composited panels sourced and modelled.
During the last stage of the product development, the thorough test with and without pigs were performed.
Primarily, an experimentally-adjusted Finite Element Model of the prototype, that reproduces the mechanical behaviour (both static and dynamic) of the chosen design for the container’s prototype, was obtained. This FEM also enabled to simulate the behaviour of the eventual improvements that can be introduced in the prototype. The multiple experimental tests of the prototype made it possible to evaluate the proposed design, identifying weak spots. The main conclusions of The road transport system laboratory testing:
• The main objective of the performed tests was the validation of the system from the point of view of its mechanical integrity when subjected to the efforts and loads associated to the road transport. This was done by means of both numerical and experimental testing.
• The Finite Element Model of the TRANSUS container was developed; it was adjusted and used for testing. It is also foreseen its utility in the future optimization stages prior to the final mass production and commercialisation.
• Both numerical and experimental test under static loads were carried out on the prototype in order to ensure the container’s strength and stiffness during transport and handling operations, following the guidelines container in the ISO 1496-1. Although residual deformations were observed after the completion of the tests under static loads, the mechanical integrity of the prototype was proved. The stresses obtained by means of numerical simulations were within the limits. Test recommendations were to pay attention to the welding manufacturing process in order to avoid residual deformation in the local yield points in specific weak welding areas
• Regarding the dynamic behaviour of the prototype, both experimental and numerical modal analyses were performed. It was concluded that the natural frequencies of the container are sufficiently apart from both the road excitation spectral peaks and from the frequencies associated with discomfort experienced by transported pigs.
• Because of ventilation requirements, the container walls are mostly open. Accordingly, acoustic tests were carried out in order to assess the acoustic properties of the wall panels. The results showed that the panels have low sound absorption coefficient and therefore act mainly as sound barriers. The use of more sound-absorbing panels could be an option, but this would be in detriment of other requirements such as endurance and easiness of cleaning.
• From the above, is was concluded that the TRANSUS system is validated from the point of view of its mechanical behaviour, in terms of structural integrity and dynamic behaviour for the pig road transport.
Further, the pig welfare and behaviour assessment tests were performed in real life situations, which brought handful information on the actual container performance. Extensive research with pigs was then compared to the initial plan of performance and with the information provided within the literature. The main conclusions of the tests with pigs are provided below:
• In the current test pigs in both treatments were mixed prior to transport and the stress of this could have overshadowed any potential benefit associated with transportation in TRANSUS. It is known that major stress associated with transporting pigs for slaughter is linked to mixing of unfamiliar animals. Indeed the stress the pigs were under prior to transport is reflected in the mean heart rates recorded in the pre-transport pens. These did not differ much from the heart rates recorded during loading. In TRANSUS the ceiling height was 90cm and therefore comparable to the ceiling height in typical three tier trucks used to transport pigs to slaughter. However, the ceiling height in the conventional truck having only two tiers, was considerably greater than 90cm. This could have mitigated unfavourably towards the TRANSUS pigs as the result of pilot tests outlined in D2.1 indicated that higher ceiling heights are better for pig welfare during transportation. It was proposed to change the initially plan of height of ceiling and to increase TRANSUS container ceiling.The low occurrence of slip, falls and refusals in general across the five test days reflects the gentleness and calmness with which the pigs were loaded and unloaded in both treatments. This illustrates that handling would not have negatively impacted on the physiological and meat quality measurements. Nevertheless there was considerably more pre-slaughter handling of these test pigs than would normally occur under commercial conditions. This was associated with fitting hear rate monitors, weighing and marking the pigs.
• Entire male pigs were used in this study as male pigs are not castrated in Ireland. Entire males are in general more aggressive than castrates which are produced on the continent. Furthermore, being sexually mature at the time of slaughter they also perform sexual behaviour in the form of mounting. This behaviour appeared to be stimulated by mixing with unfamiliar animals. Furthermore as the unfamiliar animals were primarily females this further aggravated the performance of sexual behaviour.
• Some interesting differences between the genders were found. Notably drip loss which is an unfavourable characteristic of pig meat post mortem was significantly higher in the males. This would suggest that the entire male pigs were more susceptible to stress during the pre-slaughter process than female pigs.
The performance assessment shows general interest in a system consisting of boxes from farm to slaughter included. The end consumers have positively evaluated the TRANSUS container system, especially abattoirs and transporters have noted the benefit of TRANSUS system when it is fully integrated. After the evaluation of the TRANSUS system, it was approved for the exploitation. The main TRANSUS success factors and achievements are described below:
• Reduced stress in the pigs:
o Target part wise achieved: The almost complete absence of treatment differences in this well controlled, replicated and rigorously conducted study leads to the conclusion that pig welfare was at least as good in TRANSUS as it was under conventional transportation, thus the following was recorded: More incidences of aggression in the conventional truck. More incidences of mounting and hitting the ceiling in TRANSUS. High number of vocalisations recorded in TRANSUS pigs at loading. The goal in TRANSUS was to load prior to driving and this was not done during the test of practical reasons. There was no significant effect of treatment on skin temperatures, on the skin lesion scores and on the heart rate.
• Improved pigs well-being / comfort:
o No significant effect.
• Good cleanability:
o Target achieved: leaning time today for a vehicle containing 200 to 230 pigs last approx. 1 hour. A bed on a vehicle can be cleaned in approx. 30 minutes.
• No visual presence of dirt, manure, etc:
o Target part wise achieved: After test driving the boxes was cleaned manually and the result (visible) was not better than a conventional vehicle. Taken into consideration that the TRANSUS system is giving most benefit as an integrated abattoir system and that cleaning can take place here then the goal can be expected to be achieved.
• Less time required for transport:
o Target part wise achieved: Loading with the use of TRANSUS boxes do not save time compared to a conventional vehicle (the time is the same approx. ½ hour). Unloading TRANSUS boxes as a part of an integrated abattoir system will reduce time. Unloading a vehicle of 200 to 230 pigs will normally last ½ hour, while it can be made in 10 minutes. Seen as a whole the conventional use 1 hour and TRANSUS (as an optimized and integrated system) is expected to use a total time of 40 minutes, then the goal is reached.
• Less labour needed for animal handling at the abattoir:
o Target ‘achieved’: With TRANSUS as an integrated part of the abattoir system the goal has been reached. An operator is needed to take care of incoming pigs to control the welfare assessment of the animals and this requirement was not in force when TRANSUS was started up but was a part of the new EU legislation for slaughtering of animals (EU 1099/2009, in force 1st of January 2013), otherwise the goal would have been reached while unloading could have taken place without an operator from the abattoir.
• Less time required for the cleaning:
o Target achieved: Approx. ½ hour is saved of a total of 1 hour. It is required that the TRANSUS system is an integrated part of the abattoir system and an automatic system situated at the abattoir must be invented and installed.
• Improved meat quality indicators (insofar they relate to pig handling and transport):
o Target achieved: There was a significant effect of treatment, day and an interaction between treatment and day (P<0.05) on the pH of the semimembranosus 22 hours post slaughter. Conventionally transported pigs had higher values for this measure compared to TRANSUS pigs. However, in the absence of any other differences in meat quality measurements it is difficult to suggest a biologically plausible explanation for this difference, but in general the lower level indicates better handling.
TRANSUS results
The TRANSUS project has several results that are commercially valuable and exploitable: full TRANSUS design document, full TRANSUS manufacturing document and validated TRANSUS system.
TRANSUS container design and manufacturing documents consists of series of CAD drawings with details of container design and specifications of manufacturing. The container prototype itself consists of optimally selected side wall panels, roof, corner profiles, floor panels, forklift pocket beams and threshold beams.
Container prototype was primarily used for detailed testing. One aluminum prototype was sent to University of Cantabria where tests of strength and tests under dynamic loads have been performed. Second aluminum container was sent to Teknologisk Institut to test durability. Additionally three steel prototypes were made of which one was only a dummy. These prototypes were sent to TEAGASC Company in order to test the behaviour of pigs in the boxes during transportation.
After the tests were performed the final design of the container was chosen. TRANSUS container consists of optimally selected side wall panels, roof, corner profiles, floor panels, forklift pocket beams and threshold beams.
The final TRANSUS product is supposed to be used for the pig transportation by livestock transporters, abattoirs and farmers. According to the market study results, users would get the benefit of TRANSUS containers if the whole system would be installed (vehicles, TRANSUS containers, unloading system on the ramp, lairage system, stunner, container washing facilities, installation and control system, buildings). The system would be a beneficial decision when constructing from scratch or similar situation occurs.
Whilst the TRANSUS project focused on the functional aspects of the device, further work is largely related to developing a commercial, full compliant and appealing prototype.
Potential Impact:
Potential impact on animal welfare and potential benefit for the end user
From the animal welfare perspective TRANSUS system lessens the number of incidences of aggression for pigs, significantly reduces the time of cleaning, and increases the level of hygiene. Additionally, the research of pig meat shows that pigs transported within TRANSUS system have been better handled than the pigs in the conventional transport.
From the time consumption perspective the TRANSUS system significantly reduces time of pig handling, pig unloading and cleaning time.
From the user perspective the system is more attractive for abattoirs, while hauliers alone do not save enough time or benefit financially from TRANSUS system if it is not integrated together with abattoir. With a slaughter speed of 400 and 800 pigs per hour (one shift) the pay-back period for the integrated TRANSUS system is 4 and 2.2 years accordingly.
Impact on ethical and gender issues
Throughout the duration of the project, there were no known ethical or gender issues and, considering project subject, it is not likely to occur in the future. Although equality of rights is not directly expressed in project objectives and tasks, equal rights are ensured between all project Partners for both male and female participants, disregarding their social status, religion, race, physical or mental disorder and any other characteristic.
The main dissemination activities
A policy of wide dissemination of project results has been pursued in particular focused on potential end users of the project results, i.e. farmers, transporters, traders, and slaughterhouses. Also, supporting organizations, such as veterinary doctors, pig farming associations, meat processing associations, animal feed organizations, and agricultural research organizations, veterinary inspections, consultants, etc., have been targeted. This last group in particular plays an important role as they have usually strong working relationships with the farmers and abattoirs, and their opinion bears a lot of weight. Both groups have been contacted and communicated during the events participated and through web-based media. Additionally, scientific information was communicated as supporting proof of the concept.
Project dissemination actions were aimed to:
• Create awareness about the TRANSUS project on European and national levels;
• Motivate the partners and any interested parties to collaborate;
• Inform researchers and pig transportation sector players about TRANSUS project results to facilitate the future implementation of results through planning deployment of innovative pig transportation technology.
Dissemination activities have been planned in accordance with stage of the developments in the project. The dissemination was done by means of:
• Project presentation by dissemination of the written information (leaflets, scientific articles, etc.);
• Project Web site;
• Participation in conferences, exhibitions and trade shows;
• Business meetings;
• Scientific exchange.
The consortium organized different meetings and sessions and an integral part of the dissemination activities was also the cooperation with other EU projects, organizations and professionals working in the field of common interest. These dissemination opportunities represent general dissemination channels.
The selection of the appropriate channels accords with both the TRANSUS objectives and with the development stage of the project. With respect to character of TRANSUS project the following dissemination channels were selected and developed in this dissemination strategy:
• Conferences and trade shows;
• Networking;
• Internet based communication.
Conferences and trade shows. A summary of dissemination events where TRANSUS has been presented. International exhibitions and conferences often attract many participants from companies that represent TRANSUS target group. Such business environment will enable TRANSUS team to directly contact potential clients and influencers. Contacting representatives from the target companies will ensure that the information will be faster delivered to the decision makes of the company. Media will be introduced to the new TRANSUS team and its product. Accordingly, the information about TRANSUS will be delivered through various communications (newspapers, magazines, web-based media of countries countries) which will expose TRANSUS to the greater audience.
Networking. Networking was performed during each conference and trade show. Networking enables TRANSUS team to directly contact potential clients. Contacting representatives from the target companies will ensure that the information will be faster delivered to the purchase decision makers of the company.
Internet based communication. The project was mainly disseminated through the project website; additionally project consortium was preparing press releases related with TRANSUS project for their companies’ websites.
TRANSUS website. To disseminate the results and all the information about TRANSUS project, a website was created as a main dissemination tool of the project (available at http://transus.net/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)). It serves to inform the stakeholders, scientific community as well as any other interested third parties on the project goals and objectives. Information on the project results achieved and the activities performed is also available within the website.
TRANSUS logo. The logo identifies the project and makes it recognizable among other projects, so the project gets its own identity also this way. The project logo is to be included on all materials and other documents concerning project dissemination and is distributed through printed promotional materials and via Internet on various occasions continuously throughout the whole life of the project.
TRANSUS leaflet. The leaflet is compiled to serve as a tool for the dissemination of the project at external events. It presents the project idea, consortium, which implements the project and results to be achieved at the end. Leaflets are advantageous to use in exhibitions, conferences and business meetings, because leaflets allow potential clients to later look through TRANSUS information again. This prevents loosing potential clients due to lack of information provided.
Exploitation approach and strategy
The TRANSUS exploitation approach attempts in depth investigation of the full spectrum of exploitation opportunities – not just product development and commercialization, but involves all the partners independently of their profile and position in supply chain in the exploitation efforts based on their nature and type of activities, as well as their stated individual exploitation perspectives concerning the project results.
Although exploitation evolved in parallel with the technical work, it offers a different view of the project results and supports the partners to think about the results more from a market perspective and identify exactly what they have to offer as well as find and reveal the value of the results for the business and scientific world. The basis for commercial products, such exploitation opportunities could include:
• Developing new services based on the prototypes, methods and tools.
• Creating start-up businesses to commercialize results.
• Protecting results through patents and IPR agreements.
• Inputting to standardization and legislative activities.
• Feeding RTD results and know-how into further research.
• Feeding RTD results and know-how into national or industrial research projects.
The exploitation potential of the project depends mainly on the following critical parameters that are assessed during the project lifetime:
• The project results:
o The nature of the results (research approaches or concrete prototypes);
o The degree of innovation (proof of concepts using mature, but risking to be outdated technologies, or forward the state of the art exploiting cutting edge but immature technologies);
o The quality of the results (results that perform just what they promise, or better than expected (easier and faster for example), and
o Their applicability in the market (they might be the perfect results but not applicable to the market).
• The project partners:
o The perspectives and the expectations of each partner from the project.
o The continuous commitment of each partner.
• The market:
o The maturity and the trends.
o The movements and the role of the leaders.
o The “customers” needs.
All SMEs will have ownership of their respective result. The final share of the results for each participating SME is further defined according their contribution to the project.
Overall exploitation strategy
The partners have anticipated co-operation into commercial applications in the future. At the end of the project, manufacturing partners of the Consortium will manufacture and market the resulting container for pig transport applications, and Coordinator company will market manufacturing licenses internationally. The remaining partners will serve as a test bed for future generations of the TRANSUS system. In return, they will receive media exposure, and future generation models against a significant discount. All SME participants will receive royalties of 5% of the selling price generated by the project results, pro rata the input they provided, counting both pre-project efforts and investments, and efforts/investments during the project. The use and monitoring of the IPR issues derived from the shared and individual contribution of the partners into the creation of the exploitation assets will ensure that there is a clear understanding and agreement of the ownership of the assets, thus avoiding any potential conflict in the consortium.
For the product to be successful in the highly competitive pig transportation industry the market strategy has to be both clever and well capitalised. The marketing strategy needs to be fully interwoven with the investment strategy to make sure that the product will come to the attention of the farmers and that it will actually sell at a profit.
Breakthroughs in product technology and changes of sales patterns with regard to revolutionary products are known to be very slow initially, and then, for the successful products, there tends to be a sudden rapid increase in sales. To ensure successful marketing of the product, the group of companies developing the TRANSUS system needs to have the capacity and capital to be able to: (1) create a sales boost and (2) respond to the rapid increase in demand (production and cash flow).
The SMEs anticipate to work further together to commercialise the TRANSUS container for a period of another 48 months before the technology is ready for market introduction. Whilst the TRANSUS project focused on the functional aspects of the device, further work is largely related to developing a commercial, full compliant, and appealing prototype.
List of Websites:
The further information about TRANSUS project can be accessed online at http://transus.net/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana).