How Automation Can Transform Future Poultry Processing

Automation can minimize downtime, increase worker safety, and eliminate human error in the poultry processing plants of the future.

Fremont, CA: Due to the global pandemic, poultry processing facilities faced greater staffing issues. As a result, robotic and automated technology solutions that could assist decrease labor difficulties and increase worker safety are gaining popularity. The ultimate goal of automation in meat and poultry processing factories is not to completely replace workers, but to discover ways to supplement or improve their experience. Automation can also help to enhance the working environment of employees who frequently conduct labor-intensive tasks that can lead to injury.

How is automation transforming the poultry processing industry?

Prepared to handle the harsh atmosphere

There are currently robots that are specifically intended for use in the poultry business. When compared to other industries, such as automotive, the usage of automation and robots in poultry processing is relatively young. Automation entails more than just purchasing equipment. Processing plants may need to be altered in order to accommodate automation. Strict cleanliness processes are required in poultry processing factories, which must be carefully evaluated before any automated or robotic solution can be implemented.

Keeping supply chain disruptions minimal in the case-ready poultry industry

During the global pandemic, demand for food increased as people avoided eating indoors to prevent the infection from spreading. In addition, e-commerce has grown in popularity, with ten years of expected growth in the last year. Both merchants and food producers have been affected by the market transition, with many food manufacturers turning toward direct-to-consumer sales. Smaller orders are being placed more frequently as a result of the e-commerce culture and mass urbanization tendencies. To do it better, faster, and cheaper, case-ready poultry weigh-price-label (WPL) operations will rely on automation and robotics in the future.

Automation links the production, weigh price label subsystems, shuttle aisles, and palletizing robots through a conveyer network, allowing for better control and distribution of each individual container across the system. Automation can assist in optimizing case-ready poultry production by lowering manpower requirements, allowing for smaller, more frequent orders, better inventory management, and lower inventory loss.