Tyson Foods invests in SmartPro hatchery technology

US-based Tyson Foods Inc. has chosen Pas Reform and NatureForm, the world’s only single-source supplier of integrated hatchery solutions, to equip the hatchery of its new chicken production complex at Humboldt in Gibson County, western Tennessee.

US-based Tyson Foods Inc. has chosen Pas Reform and NatureForm, the world’s only single-source supplier of integrated hatchery solutions, to equip the hatchery of its new chicken production complex at Humboldt in Gibson County, western Tennessee.

The facility will include a feed mill, hatchery, processing plant and related operations to produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide. It is expected to process 1.25 million birds per week when it opens in 2019.

Tyson Foods is one of the world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein-based foods, with its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, it has grown under three generations of family leadership. In 2017 the company had sales of USD 38.3 billion.

The Humboldt project received the go-ahead in January 2018. In the preceding months the engineering teams of Tyson and Pas Reform/NatureForm worked together to specify the project’s scope, calculate technical specifications and model optimal processes for the hatchery.

The hatchery will make full use of Pas Reform’s and NatureForm’s single-source capabilities. The project includes 36 SmartSetPro-6 setters, 6 SmartSetPro-3 setters and 39 SmartHatchPro hatchers, to bring total weekly capacity up to 1.7 million eggs.

Installation will also include a complete heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) installation, with seven air-handling units, three chillers and a heat recovery system.

On the hatchery automation front, the project consists of a farm-to-setter-trolley transfer system, a fully automated candling and transfer unit with in-ovo vaccination, stackers, de-stackers, separators, washing and waste handling systems, and innovative, animal-friendly SmartCount chick counting and dosing systems.

Pas Reform’s advanced, web-based SmartCenterPro hatchery information software will enable Tyson Foods to control setter, hatcher, climate control and hatchery automation operations from a single computer, as well as providing remote access capabilities to manage and respond to system alerts and provide technical and troubleshooting support. 

Tyson Foods has also adopted a SmartCare Lifetime Services contract, which covers every level of hatchery operations, to deliver an assurance of efficient, uninterrupted performance over the next five years.

Shelby Watkins, Tyson’s Director of Breeder and Hatchery explains: “The decision to work with Pas Reform and NatureForm came after a careful and stringent comparison of hatchery equipment manufacturers and suppliers. We wanted a fully integrated approach to the development of our new hatchery project and our preference was to work with a single industry partner.

“In the preparatory phase of the project we worked as a group with Pas Reform and NatureForm and we were impressed with the expertise that they brought to the table when we started this new complex. We visited their installations in the US and found that they manage their projects professionally and in an integrated way, taking care of all aspects of what a modern hatchery needs: incubators, climate control and hatchery automation, with a state-of-the-art software module integrating all three. This is an approach that we feel will work well in the years to come.

“The SmartCare contract proposal that comes with the project is a new way of working for us and a great step forward. It was clear from our visits that Pas Reform and NatureForm do not stop when a hatchery is installed. They take it that step further with technical and incubationist visits and frequent Skype-call meetings with our hatchery staff.”

Steve Warren, President of NatureForm Hatchery Technologies, comments: “This is another milestone for Pas Reform and NatureForm. Since the start of our collaboration in 2014 we have been in frequent contact with Tyson staff, visiting their hatchery operations with our incubation specialists and inviting them to our Pas Reform Academy. This was a great way for us to get in-depth knowledge of the Tyson group. And of course Tyson staff also got to learn about our equipment and our company philosophy.”

Bouke Hamminga, Pas Reform’s Director for International Sales and Business Development says: “Since Tyson is one of the three largest poultry companies in the world, the impact of this agreement will be viewed very positively both in the USA and worldwide.

“We feel that this project helps us to get a major foothold on the US market and internationally as well. We have always viewed our collaboration with NatureForm as a strategic way of gaining substantial market share in the US market and we are doing just that.”

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