Meat+Poultry - July 2017 - 20

COVER STORY

At the grand opening of
the Zhengzhou plant in
2015, the Smithfield team
that helped get the plant
up and running gathered
in China to celebrate the
completion of the project.
(Pictured from left: Dr.
Michael Bradley, Scott
Greiman, Dave Bergan,
Bruce Owens, Bob
Marshall, Dr. Brook Yuanxi,
Jennifer Lau, Dr. Larry
Hand, Lin Gu, Dave Taylor,
Paul Kafer, Brad Keffaber,
Rhett Xu and Rob Delaney)

WORLDLY EXPERIENCE
Smithfield has undergone significant changes in
leadership, strategy and even ownership during
Kafer's tenure. But through it all, working
with the other engineers within the company
he's always tried to focus on how the teams in
each of the operating companies could work
together effectively.
"We've divested companies and added
companies, but I've always tried to maintain
collaboration with the other engineers," he
says. "What are the things we can all work on
together, like updating our RTE guidelines for
how we build a plant?"
This big picture, team approach was never
more important than when the Smithfield team
committed to undertaking one of its most
important projects to date and one of Kafer's
most significant accomplishments.
"Probably the biggest project I've been
involved in is building a plant in Zhengzhou
with Shuanghui Development, our sister
company in China. That was a challenge,"
Kafer says.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 07.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

Smithfield Foods

20

work on a plant expansion at the Cumming
facility when he was asked to join Smithfield's
corporate engineering staff at the company's
headquarters. His first assignment was to help
lead construction of a new plant that had just
broken ground in Kinston, North Carolina.
"I took on the construction-management
piece," Kafer says, including dealing with the
contractors, dealing with change orders all as
part of getting the facility up and running.

He assumed the role of construction
manager of that project.
"We wanted to build a plant in China that,
if you were standing in the middle of the
plant, you would think you were in a plant
on US soil," Kafer says. The goal was also to
manufacture products that are identical to
what is produced in the US. To build a bacon,
sausage and ham processing plant with a
company that had never made the products
before was a lofty challenge. "My team was
tasked with making this happen," Kafer says.
The project involved WH Group, the
China-based, publicly traded parent company
of Smithfield and a majority interest (73
percent) owner of Shuanghui Development,
an independently operated company similar to
China's version of Smithfield in the US.
Along with plenty of translators and
Smithfield team members, Dave Taylor and Lin
Gu, Kafer went to China in March 2014 to meet
with the design and construction firm there to
create a plan for the plant.
"It dawned on me very early on that
this was going to take a very high level of
commitment," Kafer says, giving credit to
Taylor and Gu, who were there from Day 1. The
US$117 million plant spans more than 226,000
sq. ft. with a daily capacity of 100 metric tons
of meat products, including bacon for retail
and foodservice; cooked, sliced ham; and
smoked sausage. More team members became
involved from Smithfield's US operations as
the project ramped up. Bruce Owens and Rhett
Xu as well as food safety officials Michael
Bradley, Ph.D., and Brook Yuanxi, Ph.D., were
also added to the team that made up the core
of the US contingency. Kafer, Taylor and Gu
were tasked with getting the plant design
finalized; deciding on the type and amount
of equipment to install and work with the
Beijing-based design firm to ensure the finished
product could deliver on the expectations.
The logistics of the challenging project meant
dozens of trips back and forth from Virginia to
China and constant communications between
team members from two different countries in
time zones that are 12 hours different, not to
mention the logistics of communicating in two
very different languages.
Nearly two-and-a-half years later, the
project was completed. Equally challenging to
the construction was the operational teaching
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