Wayne Farms Chicken Processing Plant, Decatur, AL, USA

Wayne Farms, a subsidiary of ContiGroup Cos Inc – the fifth-largest chicken processor in the US – brought into production two new chicken processing lines at its Decatur facility in Alabama in May and July 2004 (the third expansion since the plant first opened in 1998). The first of the lines (Line 45) is designed to produce fully-cooked roasted products, while the second (Line 46) produces fully-cooked breaded products (the first at Decatur). In June 2004, the company announced further expansion plans at the Decatur facility – a new chicken processing facility.

EXPANSION – CHICKEN PROCESSING LINES

The investment for this expansion was estimated at $25.4 million and has added a further 120 jobs to the previous workforce of 240. The new lines increase production capacity at the facility by 40 million lb/yr.

Planning for the expansion began in early 2003; however, a serious fire at the company's Oakwood, Georgia, processing facility in May 2003 accelerated the process, and construction of the expansion started earlier than planned, in August 2003. The Decatur site is an ideal location for Wayne Farms from a raw material supply and distribution stand point. The facility was designed in 1998 specifically to undergo expansion and since that time has increased its production capacity by over 200%.

In June 2008, the company announced it was reducing production by 6% citing continual rise of grain markets causing an unprecedented increase in raw material costs.

CHICKEN PROCESSING FACILITY

A new three-phase processing facility is planned on a site adjacent to the original plant. The first phase began in the third quarter of 2004 and will be completed by the first quarter of 2006.

The 100,000ft² first phase (constructed on a 45-acre site adjacent to the original facility) will have two fully-cooked production lines and will be constructed to allow expansion in two further phases up to 2011 with four more production lines. The two initial production lines will include one for fully-cooked roasted strips and whole muscle fillets and the second for fully-cooked, breaded, formed and whole muscle fillets and tenders. The product lines from the new plant will extend Wayne Farms range into ready cooked prepared products as well as their previous fresh and frozen lines.

The new facility will feature a modular design that allows for enhanced allergen and microbial control. Fresh and further processing areas will be isolated with separate plant entrances with electronic identification, in keeping with the company's biological safety standards.

The plant will feature automated processing, tracking, temperature control and a whole range of other state-of-the-art features. The first phase is estimated to cost $55 million and will provide another 191 jobs to the local area. It will also gain company tax incentives from Alabama State ($877,000) and Morgan County ($173,000). The facility will create 344 jobs within three years; the initial economic impact to the area has been estimated at $48 million.

Wayne Farms manufacture products for Campbells, ConAgra Frozen Foods, Jack in the Box, Costco, Nestlé, Healthy Choice, Chick-Fil-A and Applebee's restaurants, as well as its own brands (e.g. Dutch Quality House, Platinum Harvest). Wayne Farms has stated that sales figures, already approaching $1 billion for 2004, show that demand for chicken products are up for the year due to price, health and versatility. The company's future strategy expects a 10% annual growth in sales for the next five years. This seems to be a reasonable expectation as per capita consumption of chicken in the US has risen from 28lb per person in 1960 to more than 80lb in 2002.

CONTRACTORS AND CONSTRUCTION

The engineering and design contractor for the expansion and the new facility is Vaughn Coltrane Pharr and Associates. The general contractor for its construction is Turner Universal.

The equipment supplier and installer for Lines 45 and 46 was FMC. FMC supplied and installed two DSI 624 Portioner systems with water jet cutting technology for portioning the de-boned chicken prior to further processing. In addition, there is a high capacity Thermofin Stein roasting system for both lines, as well as a Stein coating system and an Allen seasoning system for Line 46 to produce both American breadcrumb and cracker meal coated chicken products (the coating systems are specially designed to minimise blow-off and pillowing of the coating during the cooking process). Both lines are equipped with Frigoscandia chilling systems for the cooled cooked products prior to packaging.

The two lines are controlled using state-of-the-art FMC FoodTech LINK technology, a PC-controlled automation and inventory software system. This helps to achieve product consistency, optimises yield from raw materials and gives full process traceability. The system fully integrates and controls the entire processing line to allow full control over coating seasonings and recipes and full roaster temperature control and chilling control.

CHICKEN PORTIONING SYSTEM

The DSI 624 chicken portioning machine is computer controlled and fully integrated with the FMC LINK system and uses a high-pressure water jet (>50,000psi), which is precisely focused to a very fine jet to trim fat and portion the de-boned chicken. The water jet cutters can move both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of product allowing for full cut flexibility.

There is a library of cutting software with which the machine can be programmed to provide the exact portion size required for a particular product. The machine can run five different software routines simultaneously in order to maximize the yield for each piece of incoming chicken. The equipment also lends itself to easy maintenance and cleaning; since the water nozzles do not come into contact with the meat being portioned, hygiene is raised to another level. The system is fully compatible with the latest hydrogen peroxide cleaning methodologies.

INFOR SYSTEM

Wayne Farms will use Infor's supply chain planning suite to increase profitability and improve customer service levels by enhancing its ability to match fluctuating consumer demand with a fixed supply of high quality product. This system will enable Wayne Farms to improve forecasting and manage production and planning constraints while optimising supply against variable demand. The implementation of the system will integrate customer requirements directly to 13 plants throughout North America. This new system will operate alongside the recently implemented Intelliship logistics management program.

INTROSPEC SYSTEM

Wayne Farms will launch IntroSpec in the second quarter of 2005. IntroSpec is a system of inspection and standards designed to certify the safety and security of products for feed mills and field operations of Wayne Farms growers and facilities. The system, it is hoped, will encourage continuous improvement of controls and standards in production. The IntroSpec program combines intensive analysis, inspection and testing processes to ensure the safety and security of vendors who do business with the company. Vendors that supply feed ingredients and live production supplies must go through the IntroSpec program to be approved and certified.