Driving a Sizeable Salami Project into the Fast Lane: A Success Story
By Dan Crist
Challenge:
Daniele Foods, one of the nation’s largest dry cured prosciutto manufacturers, desired to maximize opportunities in the dry cured salami sectors. The first order of business? Finding a company to complete a renovation and expansion to its existing 620,000-square-feet facility in Rhode Island, which employs more than 600 people. Their timeline was aggressive. Could a fully functional, high-quality project from design to operational be finished in nine months flat? A M King said yes it can.
Solution:
A M King was up to the challenge and knew the fully integrated design- build delivery method was the only way the project could be delivered in such a short time. The design offered complex challenges in detailed coordination with more than seven Italian equipment vendors, which were critical aspects to the design. Placing new equipment into the existing facility created problems in existing plant infrastructure and working through equipment needs and specifications in such a short duration presented dynamic aspects to design coordination.
Further, we concluded that phase construction document sequencing was needed in order to commence work prior to full design documents being completed. The design process was broken into numerous drawing packages and released for construction accordingly. Therefore, we were able to maintain progress on the building and not be held up waiting for drawings to be issued. To preserve the accelerated schedule, we had to coordinate and manage complex challenges that involved exacting attention to detail, elements which included systems such as waste drain locations, floor slab structural components, integration of process automation and robots, and glycol piping installations.
Lastly, the importance of the right team on any project of this complexity proved to be critical. Strict selection of the design consultants, engineering consultants, subcontracting team and onsite personnel was of the upmost importance. Having a team with past experience in fully integrated Design- Build and understanding complex phasing both to design and construction was critical. Extensive planning and ongoing daily input and open communication offered clear and precise plans and goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis between all team members.
Results:
A clear outlined path with a dedicated team of designers and constructors allowed A M King and the project team an opportunity to offer Daniele Foods a new, state-of-the-art, dry cured salami production area on time and within the original projected budget. The new fully automated salami production area is comprised of both magnetic and laser guided robots for material transfer. The dry cured processing rooms, which are precisely controlled by air handing equipment to offer optimal temperature and humidity curing environments, create larger areas for increased production. The renovated and expanded facility provides Daniele Foods with the ability to double production of salami with a greater than 70 percent reduction in manpower. In a market where it is difficult to find enough skilled labor, this automation implementation allows Daniele Foods to allocate staffing to other areas of the plant where manual staffing is needed.
