METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PORTION CUTTING OF MEAT ITEMS

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for portion cutting of meat items, wherein the apparatus comprises: a first shape sensor for measuring a shape of a meat item to be cut into portions, the shape defining a reference direction, a cutter for cutting the meat item into portions, a cutter feed conveyor for conveying the meat item to the cutter, the cutter feed conveyor defining a feed direction, a control module configured to compute, based on the measured shape and based on one or more predetermined cut criteria, a target orientation associated with the meat item, the target orientation being indicative of a target angle between the reference direction and the feed direction, and an item positioner configured to position the meat item on the cutter feed conveyor at the computed target orientation.