Robots Are Headed for Pilgrim's Pride's Chicken Plants
- X-Ray technology will also be used for deboning work, CEO says
- Pilgrim’s employs 40,000 across the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico
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Working in the $60 billion U.S. chicken industry is often tough and grueling, with much of the processing done by hand. One of the nation’s largest suppliers wants to reduce labor intensity on the production line by introducing robots.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the second-largest U.S. producer, is adding robotics and X-ray technology for processes such as deboning the front half of the birds, Chief Executive Officer Bill Lovette said Thursday on the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call. Pilgrim’s is working with Scott Technology Ltd., a New Zealand automation company controlled by Pilgrim’s corporate parent, Brazilian meat giant JBS SA.