Meat+Poultry - October 2022 - 20

COVER STORY
to allow trucks to back into the loading bay.
At Creekstone, the trucks back into a covered
bay, the bay doors open and then the truck
doors open.
" It comes down to integrity of product, "
Stewart said. " We want to make sure that
there's no huge door open to the outside in the
middle of summer in Kansas. "
Eating experience is key for
consumers seeking a 'dining
out experience' at home.
market. But it allows us to be more efficient
by expanding the hot box for carcass cooling
and the distribution center which automates
order fulfillment. "
Juggling production days for different
programs is much easier with the addition of
the new $35 million refrigerated distribution
center. Opened in 2020, the warehouse covers
a total of roughly 42,000 square feet. This
includes 35,311 square feet of main floorspace
and a 6,023-square-foot mezzanine area.
The distribution center handles all the
cases of beef after they've been produced in
fabrication. All Creekstone product that is
headed for export goes through the center.
There's a documenting, labeling, stickering,
stamping inspection by the US government
at the facility before orders are shipped
for export.
" We segregate everything by an item code
and a scan label, and then those specific item
codes are destined for international markets, "
Stewart said.
An automated storage and retrieval system,
which has the capacity to handle 27,000 boxes
in a nine-hour day, features robotic pickers that
effortlessly glide up and down soaring vertical
storage shelves loaded with boxes of Black
Angus beef. After locating the correct boxes
for an order, the robot places the cartons on
a conveyor system in the mezzanine. Boxes
are then conveyed to a pallet which is placed
on a platform and wrapped by another giant
robotic arm.
" Originally, in order to ship a load of
product it would take two to four employees
four hours to find, palletize, stack, shrink-wrap
and load on a trailer one load of product, "
Stewart said. " This is all done - with no human
hands - every 20 minutes. "
The distribution system also allows
Creekstone to maintain the cold chain. In
older facilities, disruptions in the cold chain
would occur when facility doors were opened
20 MEAT+POULTRY | 10.22 | www.meatpoultry.com
SUSTAINABILITY-PLUS
Both Meyer and Stewart acknowledge the
positive impact technology has made on
Creekstone's efficiency and output. But with
so much technology surrounding the beef
processing operation, it's easy to overlook the
role of the processes involved to make the
product. The leadership team at Creekstone
believes more can be done to enhance
operations at the company and beyond.
" A lot of people are using the word
sustainable now when they're talking about
solar energy and electric cars, " Stewart
said. " Sustainability for us is about being a
sustainable partner in this industry with the
family farms and ranches that can maintain
generational farms. A big part of the way this
program developed was Ryan going out and
saying, 'I'm going to give you a premium to do
things the way I'd like for you to do them.'
" Those producers that jumped on and
have been with us ever since, we've helped
them sustain themselves through industry
ups and downs. They know that they've got a
guaranteed partner here. If they produce cattle
to our specification, we're going to continue
to give them a premium for the product that
they're giving us. It's going to help them to
sustain as a family, as a generational farm. "
Creekstone is asking producers to be more
sustainable in their on-farm practices, and
Creekstone is mindful of steps the company
can take to be more environmentally friendly.
" We've got some projects going on right
now where we're going to reduce our carbon
footprint over time, " Stewart said. " We are
collaborating with our parent company to
reduce our footprint as much as we can.
There are things in this industry that can
be done to help lessen that impact on the
environment. But for us, sustainability goes
across everything from the environment
to the families that help supply us and our
community. "
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Meat+Poultry - October 2022

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