Large-scale Poultry Production Under the Global Industry 4.0 Has Broad Prospects

A factory with 5 production lines and 10 machines on one line means you are collecting thousands of data points about how the equipment is performing.

From international competition to the intensifying game between major powers, from technology research and development to core technology monopoly and blockade, and then to industrial applications facing numerous obstacles, the huge waves set off by digital technology have been higher and higher. Hundreds of industries and thousands of companies compete for the digital track. The industry is not far behind, and this trend has received more action responses under the impact of the new crown epidemic, especially in European and American markets where labor shortages are increasing. For example, the U.S. poultry industry, which still lags behind other industries in the application of digital technology, has begun to take new actions under the pressure of many parties to improve the humane care of workers’ health in poultry meat processing plants and more decent jobs. From the perspective of the Chinese market, the application of digital technology in the poultry industry is more reflected in the integration of production capacity and the improvement of scale breeding.

The Interaction of the Poultry Industry and Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an interconnected ecosystem of digital technologies designed to provide a predictive future, characterized by the fusion of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), autonomous systems , nanotechnology, quantum computing and a fully interconnected Internet of Things, as well as matching robotics.

So, what is Poultry 4.0? It can be understood as the application of the fourth industrial revolution technology in the field of poultry. Industry 4.0 components have transformed many industries, including the poultry and food industries. For example, sensors and big data can help poultry supply chains gather information about processes, while IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning can communicate and learn from the collected information (Figure 1).

In fact, the technology of the meat industry has been replacing and upgrading for many years, although it is low-key, it has never been interrupted. With the development of computers, social media, and online shopping, the speed of industry transformation has gradually accelerated, and the production and consumption patterns of fresh meat and meat products have undergone tremendous changes. Once, people relied mostly on eating at home. Spending on eating out or buying prepared foods is an increasing portion of food consumption these days. This can be seen from the change in the proportion of poultry meat processing. According to the National Chicken Council (NCC), in 1962, 83% of broiler chickens in the United States were sold as whole chickens; in 1991, the proportions of whole chickens, processed products, and nuggets/cuts were 16%, 28% and 56%, respectively. ; In 2021, the sales of whole chickens will only account for about 9%, while 50% of chickens will be sold as deep-processed products, and 40% of chickens will be sold as chicken nuggets/cuts.

Trends such as these are particularly evidence that while the poultry industry itself may not be an early adopter of technology and digital innovations, the technologies used by the poultry industry to produce, cut, process, package and ship products have benefited from advances in industrial technology and other Gain a lot from the advantages that come with it.

Technology and data empower poultry industry

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire food supply chain, including the need for digital and automation solutions, has increased significantly. The full use of technology and data has great potential to improve poultry processing, preservation and analysis, reduce food waste and loss, develop safe high-quality poultry products, and improve supply chain transparency.

Policy Support

Echoing the industry 4.0 trend, many economies have introduced policies and allocated funds to support the development of the local poultry industry, and digital technology and intelligence are also key support areas, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, EU countries, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Iran , South Africa, Nigeria, etc.

In China, there are currently some policies related to the development of digital technology related to the poultry industry. For example, the “Guidelines for Digital Construction of Agricultural Modernization Demonstration Zones” released in August 2022 proposed to promote the digital upgrading of the entire agricultural industry chain, accelerate the intelligent transformation of agricultural production, and promote the intelligent transformation of agricultural product processing. In livestock and poultry breeding, accelerate the intelligent transformation of livestock and poultry house environmental monitoring and automatic control, intelligent monitoring of animal estrus, precision feeding, disease prevention and control, and manure treatment. In the field of agricultural product processing, promote the application of automatic equipment such as intelligent assembly lines and special robots, and carry out operations such as intelligent sorting, automatic cleaning, non-destructive testing, and automatic packaging.

Improve safety and efficiency

Advanced automation is helping Tyson Foods improve worker safety and efficiency in poultry processing. The company recently completed a $90 million expansion of its poultry processing plant in Forest, Mississippi. One of the biggest changes is the addition of automation to some of its chicken processing lines. “Automation touches a lot of really critical points,” said Charlie Solomon, head of poultry at Tyson Foods. “Historically, automation versus manual processes can create a very large performance gap. Great strides have been made, performance is much better, and some types of automation are very simple to maintain.”