Tyson Foods has opened a new $300 million fully cooked food production facility in Danville, Va., to accelerate long-term growth. It is one of the company’s most automated plants to date. The 325,000-sq.-ft. facility represents an investment in the local community and will produce approximately four million pounds of fully cooked poultry products weekly.

Located in the Cane Creek Centre, a local business park owned by the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County, the facility has created nearly 400 new jobs for the southeastern Virginia region.

The plant will produce approximately 4 million pounds of fully cooked poultry products weekly. Image courtesy of Tyson Foods

“Danville represents a significant commitment to the region, and we take our responsibility to enhance the communities where we live and work seriously. This plant is also a significant step toward our ongoing goal of operational excellence by investing in innovative technology and automation,” says Donnie King, president and CEO of Tyson Foods. “This facility delivers on our commitment to ensuring best in class service for our customers and accelerating our long-term growth.”

The Danville facility is one of the company’s most highly automated plants to date, featuring high-speed automated case packing lines and high-speed robotic case palletizing units. The technology helps to maximize operational efficiency and increase overall team member safety. It also includes a product inspection process that incorporates metal detection, X-ray and vision grading.

The Danville facility is the company’s first at-scale integration of wearable armband devices to improve worker health, safety and productivity. The solution integrates technology featuring sensors that relay environmental data to safety managers to better identify risk exposures.

Armbands integrate technology featuring sensors that relay environmental data to safety managers to better identify risk exposures.

“The combination of our team and technology at Danville will strengthen our ability to better meet demand for retail and foodservice fully cooked Tyson brand products,” says Wes Morris, group president, poultry, Tyson Foods. “The Danville plant incorporates the latest technology that brings real-time intelligence to our processes, products and workplace experience for team members.”