EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AP) — The company behind a $250 million pork plant being built in Iowa plans to use advanced robotics for many of its processes.
The robots are expected to ease the burden on employees and improve efficiency at the Wright County facility, Jere Null, chief operating officer of Prestage Foods, told The Messenger.
Some robots will be tasked with precision meat-cutting. Computers will analyze images to determine how robots should be used and a high-pressure waterjet cutter will be used to slice through meat and bone, Null said.
"Imagine you take several frames of a carcass coming by and the computer can distinguish lean from bone from fat," he said. "It can tell that robotic arm exactly how to cut based on what it's looking at."
Robotics will change the type of skills needed in employees, shifting the focus to electronic engineers who can help program and maintain the robots, Null said.
"A lot of the precision cutting we are doing is moving towards robotics," he said. "What would have previously been a laborious, back-breaking type job like holding a heavy saw and cutting and things like that can now be done by a robot."
The company is working with Iowa Central Community College to create a workforce training program, Null said.
Plans are still being finalized, but the training will likely start in 2018, said Iowa Central President Dan Kinney. The length of training will depend on the student, he said.
"It could be two to four weeks or six to nine months, depending on what levels of training they want us to do, as well as the background of the student or that individual they hired," Kinney said.
The plant is scheduled to open in November 2018 and will employ more than 1,000 people, he said.