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

The Canadian agriculture industry has introduced many new technologies over the last decade, from data systems advising farmers when to spray, seed and harvest their fields to robotic milking machines and AI to create the ideal facilities to grow crickets.

Meat processing plants are advancing, too — just not nearly as fast.

Artificial 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 plant-based proteins.

Still, change has been slow.

"We are laggards, in many ways," said Andreas Liris, the chief information and technology officer at Maple Leaf Foods. "We're making small investments, but definitely behind the curve compared to some other sectors."

The manufacturing sector, including automotive plants, has relied on robotics for several years, but putting a bolt in a car is very different than working with meat, since no two animals are the same.

One of the challenges is replicating the human eye and touch. So far, robotic butchers aren't able to make precise cuts and can also struggle to accurately tell the difference between skin, fat, bone and meat in chicken and turkey facilities.

"Super difficult, but getting better, though. Robots are becoming more tactile," said Liris.

Companies are making strides, such as using robotics to transport heavy animal carcasses within a facility, to stack and move boxes for delivery and to optimize transportation loads to reduce the amount of trucking. 

In recent years, Maple Leaf has begun using sensors on trucks to track the temperature and humidity for flocks of chickens from a farm to a facility. The technology helps improve animal welfare and meat quality, said Liris.

Several Canadian startups are trying to develop solutions to modernize the sector, including Waterloo-based P&P Optica, which uses hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence to understand food chemistry as the meat moves along the production line.

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.

"How do you put a very fragile optical system into a manufacturing plant that you have to clean everyday?" said Olga Pawluczyk, chief executive of P&P Optica. "You have to clean it in such a way that you don't have salmonella, listeria, E. coli growing in the plant. It's not a gentle environment, let me put it that way."

The company now has its equipment installed in 10 meat packing facilities in North America. The imaging technology detects and measures quantities of protein, water and fat, while also noticing any contaminants, such as plastic debris that could break off from a conveyer belt.