Reports Say Tyson, Other Processors to Replace Meat Cutters with Robots

The ongoing food and beverage manufacturing industry labor crisis combined with the pandemic is behind the need for more automation, including robotics.

Joyce FasslSenior Executive Editor, ProFood World

Jul 13th, 2020

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According to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, Tyson engineers are getting help from the auto industry to develop an automated deboning system to help butcher millions of chickens processed per week.

More than 16,000 meat and poultry processing workers across 23 states have been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of May 31, according to the CDC and CNN’s website. CNN also reports 86 workers have died. Worker safety experts and unions say that's partly because of working conditions in the plants that place employees closely together, the report says.

Tyson has invested a half of a billion dollars in technology and automation during the past three years and is now expediting its efforts, according to WSJ.

The ongoing food and beverage processing industry workforce crisis combined with the pandemic is behind the need for more automation, including robotics.

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