Top Issues Facing the Meat and Poultry Industries
With COVID-19 still affecting the meat and poultry industry, processors have several issues to face to keep their workers safe and hit productivity targets. While these challenges can be difficult at first, you can implement multiple solutions to overcome them.
As you look to meet the challenges facing the meat and poultry industry, review some of the issues you may be experiencing and the top solutions designed to help you respond to them.
Jump to Sections:
- Challenges Facing the Meat and Poultry Industry
- Solutions to These Challenges
- Five Ways to Improve Processes and Protect the Employee
- A Sample Meat and Poultry Industry Equipment Layout for Your Warehouse
- Client Testimonial
- Choose Cherry’s Industrial Equipment
Challenges Facing the Meat and Poultry Industry
Meat and poultry companies today face many threats and obstacles that can affect productivity, profitability and the ability to meet client demands. These challenges include worker illnesses, market shifts, compliance regulations and supply chain disruptions.
Here are the top six challenges facing the meat and poultry industry:
1. Compliance and Regulations
Many companies know the importance of keeping up with the latest compliance and regulations governing the meat and poultry industry. Besides the current need for pandemic containment at your facility, there’s a historic push for processors to sanitize, clean and follow an effective HACCP program. All designed to reduce the chance of pathogens from entering the plant and production areas and eliminate contaminants from entering the food supply.
As the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has regulations governing those in the meat and poultry industry, processors have to stay on top of any changes to existing regulations and guidelines. If processors don’t review FSIS guidelines and train their staff to follow them, they risk spreading foodborne pathogens and illnesses. With the world still experiencing a global pandemic, it’s even more crucial for processors to follow new regulations, especially those related to COVID-19.
2. Worker Illness and Absenteeism
Currently, worker illness and absenteeism are a major challenge for those in the meat and poultry industry. For example, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 14 states found that over 9% of employees at beef, pork and poultry plants had tested positive for COVID-19 in April and May 2020. Even before the pandemic, a lack of qualified workers in the industry was a big problem. Shortages are now further exacerbated by more than 16,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Besides the virus itself, the fear of it is also causing employees to be afraid of coming in to work. As a result, facilities are experiencing absenteeism due to anxiety, depression and fear of contracting the virus.
3. Supply Chain Disruptions
Temporary plant closures and slowdowns to accommodate social distancing and precautionary measures have created an oversupply of animals. Additionally, processors hit with high levels of absenteeism have found it impossible to hit their production targets. Decreased plant capacities have also led to pork producers to expect they’ll need to dispose of millions of animals that are too costly to continue feeding until meatpacking plants resume normal operations. Processors must respond to the challenge of getting production back up to peak efficiency, despite supply chain disruption.
4. Market Shifts
Another major challenge to the meat and poultry industry is the rise of buyers eating in more due to COVID-19. For example, a study found that the U.S. saw a 27% loss of sales for casual dining locations, coffee venues, fast-food locations and restaurants. The same study also showed a 29% increase in grocery sales.
This shift in market demand has created significant challenges for meat producers to shift over production lines, packaging and resources nearly overnight to meet the increased retail needs. Additionally, foodservice products already produced but not needed are taking up critical space in cold storage freezers. These trends of buying more from a grocery store are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, causing meat and poultry processors to need to continue shifting to the new market demands.
5. High Beef and Pork Demands
During 2020, the U.S. kept its beef and pork production high. For instance, in September, beef processing was up 8%, and pork processing was up 4% compared to the previous year. As companies are likely to have a backlog of animals at their feedlots due to slowdowns earlier in the year, it’s crucial they can maintain higher production levels in the future.
6. Greater Pressure on Small Independent Processors
With many larger processors losing the ability to hit production targets, small independent processors are rising to the occasion. Though these smaller processors also have to stick to strict COVID-19 standards, they have greater flexibility in shifting their production. Independent processors have to decide how to invest in new equipment and reach higher production targets from their clients. The increased demand can be a great thing for these independent processors, but they need to invest in the right equipment to meet expectations.
Solutions to These Challenges
While the meat and poultry industry faces significant challenges, smaller and large processors can use many solutions to weather them. You can find various solutions related to increasing production, safety and flexibility in your processing abilities.
Learn more about product and processing solutions below:
Product Solutions
One of the best ways you can rise above these challenges and keep your employees safe and productive is to employ labor saving equipment at your warehouse facility. Product solutions like ergonomic lift tables, ground level pallet dispensers, sanitary pallets, pallet retrievers, and stretch wrappers are all essential pieces of equipment for those looking to overcome the issues facing the industry.
Some of the top equipment solutions for the meat and poultry industry include:
- Pallets: As a key type of sanitary equipment in the meat and poultry industry, plastic pallets and aluminum pallets are an excellent upgrade to wood pallets at your processing plant. These pallets are easy to clean, consistent in size and tare weight and won’t give any of your workers splinters, making them safer for your products and employees. They also offer longer service life, allowing companies to save on costs over the long term.
- Pallet washers: To keep your pallets hygienic, you must wash them after use. You can find several types of pallet washing equipment that can sanitize your pallets quickly, helping your staff get to other tasks faster. You may even want to invest in pallet washers that wash, dry, and automatically sanitize pallets with minimum handling.
- Combo pallet inverter: Pallet inverters are widely used to improve your plant’s efficiency by making pallet exchange as fast and simple as possible. Combo pallet inverters are excellent for meat processing plants, as they can transfer combos from wooden pallets to plastic pallets. While transferring the combos, these inverters won’t damage the container, harm the product, introduce contaminates (debris and splinters) or lose valuable liquids.
- Lift tables: When you want to reduce the chance of absenteeism due to injury at your plant, lift tables are a great investment. These tables can lift pallets and other products to specific heights, so your workers don’t have to lift heavy materials. Many types have turntables for near side loading/unloading that prevent workers from bending or overextending themselves during key processes like packaging and cutting. Stainless steel lift tables and high-level lift tables are both popular and essential for their sanitary properties, helping companies meet regulations and reducing the chance of food contamination.
- Conveyorized stretch wrappers: Meat and poultry processors often have to wrap their products to protect finished goods during shipping. A conveyorized stretch wrapper allows a worker to use a forklift to place multiple products on a conveyor belt that feeds them to a machine that automatically wraps them protecting the boxes from potential damage during shipping.
- Pallet dispensers: Pallet dispensers take away the need for your workers to handle pallets by hand. Instead of having to track down a forklift or carry heavy pallets manually, the automatic pallet dispensers can increase efficiency and safety for your workers. A warehouse for poultry manufacturers that implements automatic dispensers can reduce employee turnover and injury and create higher pick rates.
- Spacer and pallet retrievers: For handling high demands and heavy workloads at your processing plant, the staple equipment to turn to will be the spacer and pallet retriever. This machine can be used to change out pallets, remove freezer spacers and combine loads with ease.
- Pallet straighteners: When pallets aren’t in use, you can keep them securely and evenly stacked with a pallet straightener. There are several kinds of pallet straighteners, and many companies appreciate how they prevent pallets from taking up too much floor space while providing a safe work environment.
Five Ways to Improve Processes and Protect the Employee
Alongside adding the equipment needed for meat and poultry industry production, you can also improve processes through different practices and system tweaks. Learn more about five ways you can protect your employees and improve processes below:
1. Create a Closed-Loop Pallet System
If you want to improve meat warehouse efficiency at your plant, developing a closed-loop system is likely at the top of your list. Creating one of these systems for your pallets is an excellent place to start. To create a closed-loop pallet system, you’ll need clean, reusable plastic or aluminum pallets.
In your system, wood pallets should be restricted to a specific area, such as shipping and receiving docks, freezers and storage areas. In contrast, plastic or aluminum pallets should be used in production areas to reduce floor debris, slip and fall hazards and potential contaminants from getting into the finished product. By clearly defining where certain kinds of pallets should be, you’ll reduce the chance a wooden pallet gets misused and help your workers keep productivity high by always knowing where the right pallets are located.
2. Decreased Pallet Handling
Manual pallet handling can lead to major issues in the production process, as employees are more likely to be injured during manual handling and can mishandle the product. Relying on manual handling can also present challenges when staff members are absent. To improve productivity in your meat and poultry warehouse, you can use automated systems designed to eliminate excessive movements while also decreasing forklift traffic on the floor.
One successful example of this type of machine is an Inline PSR system that automatically indexes staged loads, tips the product on its side for freezer spacer removal and then conveys it to the stretch wrapper downstream. These automized systems provide a safer space for the employee and reduce wait time for both the operator and the material handler.
3. Reduce Manual Material Handling
One way to meet periods of high demand in the meat and poultry industry is reducing manual material handling. Much like the concerns that come from relying on manual pallet handling, manual material handling can lead to injured workers since repetitive, awkward lifting can take a toll on the employee, especially as their energy wanes throughout the shift. Manual material handling also often requires more workers at your plant, which can be a challenge while trying to social distance.
Lift tables, stackers, tilt tables and load inverters significantly reduce the employee’s workload with immediate gains in speed and efficiency. Stand-alone or automated ergonomic equipment diminishes bending, reaching and lifting. In turn, your processing plant will see fewer repetitive trauma injuries and workers’ comp claims. Additional soft costs can be realized through a happier engaged worker, increased social distancing and a cleaner and safer workspace.
4. Upgrade Equipment to Curtail Hazards and Risks
Your existing equipment may be outdated and not meet today’s safety requirements. Meat and poultry processors need to embrace machinery while also balancing productivity with safety concerns. The first step is to identify potential risks during your machine’s operating stages, maintenance intervals and rest times.
The next step is to determine the safety level requirements and then apply safety designs and devices to meet the requirements. An experienced industrial equipment manufacturer can engineer a solution with modern controls, UL508a electrical panels and safety circuits. They can also mitigate potential stored energy with specialty designs and bar access to hazards with safety guarding. By upgrading your equipment, you’ll directly impact your plant’s productivity, efficiency and safety.
5. Alleviate Workforce Issues
With severe labor shortages, overworked workers and fear at an all-time high, meat and poultry companies are looking at automating processes that could help with new COVID-19 safety measures. Automating processes include adding equipment with increased speeds, like the high-speed PSR or machinery that eliminates employees needing to work in close proximity. Automated equipment can also take the pressure off of your workers when others are out with an illness or when your warehouse can’t safely operate at full capacity.
A Sample Meat and Poultry Industry Equipment Layout for Your Warehouse
Learning how to design a meat and poultry warehouse is one of the major ways to improve your plant’s efficiency and safety. A good warehouse layout for meat manufacturers is absolutely crucial to meeting challenges since it can better direct traffic, reduce production delays and help you make better use of your space.
Review our graphic below for a sample meat and poultry processing warehouse layout:
Client Testimonial
In 2019, a small independent meat processing company reached out to Cherry’s Industrial Equipment. They were looking at ways to improve efficiencies in their processing and storage operations and reduce worker-related injuries. While reviewing their challenges, we identified that they were wasting time manually removing freezer spacers by hand. This process required multiple employees unstacking and restacking boxes layer by layer onto another pallet.
To solve this issue, our product specialists determined that the PSR-73 with a deep V-Bed could handle the product, improve the process and eliminate the heavy lifting. However, due to the lower use and space availability, the client just couldn’t “justify the expense.”
In 2020, everything changed for this client due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic brought a tremendous upswell in business for this company and the meat processing industry overall. The largest of the meat processing plants were either maxed out due to increased demands or restricted in their production capacity due to mandated shutdowns. The good news was that these industry shortages, plus the increased consumer demands to buy local, created huge opportunities for independent processors like our client.
In response to the new demand, the company was now hitting a growth spurt and looking to expand to keep up with production. As they designed and began construction on a new facility scheduled to open in early 2021, they informed us that their top priorities for this new facility were labor savings, employee productivity and safety — all qualities we excel at providing.
Looking at their future production targets and expanded meat processing warehouse layout, the client saw it was very clear that the PSR-73 V-Bed was now necessary and essential. After implementation, this machine would alleviate the repetitive manual handling of boxes and increase throughput. With an improved ROI and a solution that checks the boxes, ownership found it easy to justify the expense and move forward with purchasing the machine from us.
Choose Cherry’s Industrial Equipment
If you’re looking for labor-saving equipment for your meat and poultry warehouse, Cherry’s Industrial Equipment is the first option. We offer several types of pallets, containers for storage and shipping solutions for meat warehouses, as well as sanitary equipment to meet your strict safety regulations.<
While you face everyday challenges and those posed by COVID-19, we’re here in your corner, ready to provide you with specially designed solutions. Our team of experts can also provide you with warehouse layout tips for the meat industry to improve your plant’s safety and efficiency.
Browse our selection of meat, poultry and seafood equipment solutions. If you need something more specific for your needs, you can reach out to us for a custom solution. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.