Warrnambool's Midfield Meats is undergoing a major makeover worth more than $60 million but the pandemic-hit project will have to use "virtual reality" to make it happen.
Work began about three months ago on installing new semi-automated cattle yards, a $30 million storage freezer plant and a protein plant also worth in excess of $30 million.
The new protein plant will supersede the Levys Point rendering plant which will be decommissioned early next year after works at the Strong Street site are completed in February.
General manager Dean McKenna said 53 containers of specialist machinery from Europe were set to arrive onsite over the next three weeks but a ban on international arrivals due to the coronavirus pandemic had meant overseas and Melbourne-based specialists couldn't visit and install it.
"It's a little bit challenging to do at the moment because we can't get specialist workers out of Melbourne or from offshore," Mr McKenna said.
"We've had to find alternative means to facilitate that.
"We're going to do a lot of it through virtual reality. They're going to guide us through the process. It's technology coming to the fore." Mr McKenna said there were about 70 local tradesmen working on the projects, and some of those would upskill to do the job the specialists were prevented from doing.
He said the company had committed to the works long before the pandemic, and decided to stick with the timeline to ensure it could sustain jobs long-term.
Cranes arrived on site recently to begin work on the most visible part of the revamp - a building which will house 12,000 cartons of meat in a fully automated freezing solution using robotics technology. Demolition works further along Strong Street have cleared the way for the new protein plant.
Mr McKenna said future options for the old rendering plant site were still being explored but it would no longer be an industrial operation.
The new semi-automated cattle yards were completed last week. Mr McKenna said the upgrade would allow the facility to be more sustainable and competitive while also allowing it to increase production in the future. "It will result in us having probably the most efficient abattoir in the country," he said.
The government forced the abattoir to scale back production last week, but Mr McKenna said he hoped it returned to normal when stage three restrictions ended.
He praised workers for going above and beyond government guidelines to ensure a COVID-safe workplace. "Honestly, I'm like a proud dad. They've been 10 out of 10," he said.
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