From AI to robot butchers, automating the meat packing industry is not cut-and-dried

P&P Optica's Olga Pawluczyk, University of Guelph's Mike von Massow, and Maple Leaf Foods' Andreas Liris discuss whether AI and other technology could reduce the need for labour in meat-processing facilitiesArtificial intelligence, automation and robotics are reshaping many parts of the economy, and experts say the meat-processing sector could benefit from improved technology to overcome labour shortages, improve food safety and remain competitive against alternatives like...

Robotic equipment still isn't able to properly decipher between skin, meat, bones and fat in poultry. After developing sophisticated imaging technology, the next challenge was ensuring the equipment was durable enough to function in cool temperatures and withstand being blasted with hot, soapy, high-pressure water during the sanitizing of a facility.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, meat-processing facilities were hit hard, as the virus easily spread between workers standing nearly shoulder to shoulder. The pandemic highlighted the industry's reliance on those workers, as numerous plant shutdowns interrupted the meat supply to grocers and drove up prices.

One technology that could reduce the labour requirements of a facility is being developed by Michael Ngadi, a bioresource engineering professor at McGill University and the founder of MatrixSpec Solutions. For the last 10 years, he's developed a tool to detect how much fat or marbling is in a piece of pork. North Americans generally prefer lower fat, while some Asian countries favour higher fat.

One of the technologies of the Steinbach, Man.-based company is using data and AI to determine how to optimally cool an animal carcass in the most energy-efficient way.

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