Cargill to install automated order distribution system at beef facility in Kansas

American agribusiness firm Cargill is set to install a new automated order distribution system at its beef processing facility in Dodge City, Kansas with an investment of $48m.

The project is a part of the company’s efforts to better serve its customers and meet their requirements for beef produced at the facility as well as improve the plant’s ability to retain perishable fresh meat product shipments.

Construction is expected to commence during the fourth quarter of this year with the new system slated to be operational by spring 2015.

As part of the project, the company will establish a 62,000ft² building, which will house the distribution system.

The order distribution system will be capable of holding approximately 155,000 boxes of beef, which will increase the boxed beef capacity at Dodge City by 130,000 boxes.

Featuring Retrotech automation and Viastore equipment, the new system will replace the existing one which has been in use for many years.

Cargill stated that the new system will deliver increased efficiency, improved reliability, reduced maintenance, lower operating costs, increased capacity and utilisation, in a more sustainable way due to improved energy use over the existing equipment.

Cargill’s beef president, John Keating, said that this new distribution system will benefit the company’s customers by improving order accuracy and on-time delivery, in addition to providing better capability to handle the ever-increasing complexity of product offerings shipped to domestic and international markets.

"Installation of this new system will help us better meet our customers’ expectations, something we have demonstrated as a core competency through similar investments made in recent years at our Schuyler, Neb, Friona, Texas, High River and Alberta, Canada beef processing plants," Keating said.

Established in 1979, Cargill’s Dodge City beef processing facility supplies beef products to retail, foodservice and processed foods customers across the US and worldwide.

The facility is located on 1,400 acres in western Kansas, which employs about 2,700 people, and harvests 6,000 cattle heads per day.

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Image: The new automated order distribution system will be capable of holding approximately 155,000 boxes of beef. Photo courtesy of Koos Schwaneberg.