JBS to spend $71M on automation of boxed beef warehouse
By COLLIN GALLANT on July 12, 2022.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant JBS plans to spend $71 million to fully automate its boxed beef warehouse at the Brooks processing facility, the company announced Friday, citing the need for greater efficiency and improving worker safety. That could take two years to develop and implement, with the company promising that any affected employees will be offered positions elsewhere in the plant. The union representing the 2,800 workers at the processing and warehouse facility however, says it is leery about wider spread use of robotics and will be vigilant to protect its members. The agreement between JBS and robotics and automation company Scott Technology, will create a system for handling and storing 85,000 containers of food product which move through the plant. There is no immediate schedule available from the companies. “We are excited about this partnership and the benefits the new system will provide to both our customers and our business,” said David Colwell, president of JBS Foods Canada in a statement. “This state-of-the-art solution creates an opportunity to increase efficiency and promote a safe working environment for our team members.” Scott promotes its products and labour saving solutions to intensive and repetitive physical tasks, and in the joint statement cited removing the need to physically manipulate boxes weighing up to 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds. JBS states its current business costs total $1.6 billion each year to livestock producers and $140 million in payroll for its workers. The United Food and Commercial Workers union, Local No. 401, told the News it is now evaluating potential impacts on warehouse staff at the Brooks facility, one of the largest in Canada. “We are deeply concerned with technological change that displaces people and their jobs,” said UFCW 401 president Tom Hesse in a statement to the News. “The move toward greater automation is a troubling trend in workplaces around the world. We are working to assess the impacts of this announcement and to ensure any workers whose jobs are affected are incorporated into either the new operations or other operations of the plant.” According to a company release, the system will track and move orders, and allow for streamlining the container system. It will be capable of loading one pallet of 110-pound boxes of beef every 30 seconds. “This new system will help reduce storage costs and errors, and deliver improved inventory turns, while also improving worker safety, as one box can weigh up to 110 pounds,” said John Kippenberger, CEO of Scott Technology. “It represents significant efficiencies and cost savings for JBS Foods Canada and will be the largest project of its kind for Scott to date.” Scott is a New Zealand-based technological processes firm which specializes in logistics and materials handling, but also mining and meat-processing, including some aspects of butchering. It operates in various sectors in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, South America and Europe. 16-15
