New high-tech equipment will streamline processes for washing, packing and stacking pallets. Bird Bros has already installed a Unifortes pallet washer, with plans for a new case packer robot to be brought in come January.
February of next year will see an Endoline Robotics palletiser added to the factory to further elevate productivity and improve precision and efficiency.
Matt Bird, commercial director at Bird Bros, said: “Our family business began with one hen house on farmland in Swineshead – fast forward 50 years and here we are installing cutting-edge robotics as we supply up to five million eggs a week across the UK.”
Solar powered
The new equipment will be largely powered through ‘solar units’ totalling over 800kw, which generate clean energy and save electricity.
“This million pound tech investment will be a game changer when it comes to improving efficiency,” Bird added. “As well as reducing wastewater, the pallet washer means we’ll no longer be jet-washing by hand, and the robots will help to create a safer working environment by reducing heavy lifting and repetitive work while allowing us to upskill our people in other areas.”
Bird Bros latest investment in automation followed the launch of the company’s multi-million-pound ‘Vision 2028’ strategy, which will see the egg producer phase down colony cage egg production over the next four years with the intention to end it completely by the close of 2028.
Fully automated
The company has been continuously working to fully automating its production line over the past four years. In 2021, Bird Bros installed four new case erectors from Endoline Automation, boosting efficiency by 10%.
Measuring 1 metre by 2 meters – half the size of traditional case erectors – the slimline nature of the 251 case erectors were a perfect fit for the limited floor space in the Bird Bros factory. It followed the installation of two MOBA MR-12 dual robot loading cells late 2020.
Meanwhile, Unilever’s largest UK food factory in Burton has seen a five-year transformation period, following a £40m investment which brings its UK condiments production into one specialist hub.
