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A quarter century had passed since Hormel Foods had commissioned a new production facility. In designing its Dubuque plant, engineers aimed to create a facility that would be contemporary for the next 25 years.
Adaptability is as much an element in sustained operations as energy efficiency, water management and other objectives in corporate social responsibility programs, and the ability to adapt to market changes is as much a part of Hormel Foods Corp.'s Dubuque, IA facility as its sustainable manufacturing credentials.
Officially known as Progressive Processing LLC, the 342,000-sq.-ft. plant was conceived in headier economic times as "the culmination of our commitment to sustainable operations," writes Jeffrey Ettinger, CEO, president and chairman in the company's 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report. Financial storm clouds had formed by the time ground was broken in July 2008. When production started, the housing bubble had burst, Wall Street was reeling, and retrenchment in food purchasing patterns was occurring. At the plant's grand opening, Ettinger noted initial plans for two production lines for microwavable shelf-stable entrées already had been scrapped.
Adaption to changing conditions was a given from the first day of design work in 2007, and the facility transitioned to a meat canning line that came on line in fall 2010. Although Dubuque is the first Hormel greenfield project in more than 25 years, the 120-year-old company knows something about shifting demands and new opportunities in food production.
Given a blank slate, planners were able to build to the highest energy-efficiency and resource-use standards. That inspired a quest for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The company's manufacturing network is struggling to attain goals of 10 percent cuts in energy use, though a similar reduction in water consumption is on track. In Dubuque, there were more ambitious goals of 25 percent reductions in both energy and water use per pound of finished goods, compared to similar production lines. Those goals were surpassed in the first year of operation.
"From both a customer relations and business perspective, we were looking at being as sustainable and energy efficient as possible with the project," explains Mike Devine, vice president-operations for Austin, MN-based Hormel's grocery products division. LEED certification was not originally considered, but as the project planning evolved, "the...