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Fred Barlow on Efficiency

"Safety, Quality, Production, Yield, Cost...In that order. If the first four are under control, Cost usually follows suit."

...read more below

CurrentNews

Expansion Project

A new chiller, inspection stations, rendering facility and picking room are all in the planning stages.

...look for changes.

RecentEvents

Outstanding Performance

Top ten (10) in Agri-Stats rankings.

...#1 for April 2010

Processing Plant 101 S. Liberty Ave.
Nixon, TX 78140
(830) 582 - 1551

Fred Barlow - Vice President & Plant Manager ext. 222
"In the ocean of market demands full of corporate tanker ships barely treading water, we are a speedboat of efficiency, moving and changing with the waves of uncertainty as needed to protect our customers and our industry partners."

Michael Shane Byrd - Plant Superintendent

Alicia Clemons - 1st Processing Superintendent
Francisco Ramirez - 2nd Processing Superintendent
Ronnie Gay - Back Dock Supervisor
Cindy Gutierrez - 1st Processing Supervisor
Sylvester Fatheree - 2nd Processing Supervisor

Our processing plant is the final stage of creating a high quality poultry product. It is here that the efforts of all departments come together. This streamline processing plant uses the most modern technology and methods to maintain efficiency and quality of the end product. To better understand this complex department we will take a step by step tour of this facility.

Live birds start arriving at approximately 4am. The trucks contain six to eight thousand birds with an average live weight of four pounds. The trucks are, then, parked under cooling sheds that are cooled using high velocity fans to maintain ventilation. Prior to slaughter the birds are weighed on state regulated truck scales which meet packer's and stockyard's standards. The caged birds are, then, unloaded from the truck trailer to the cage dump system where they are placed on a conveyor and hung by their feet on the picking line. The picking line runs 265 birds per minute (bpm) or 15,900 birds per hour, 650,000 per week and 33.8 million birds a year. The birds are stunned in accordance of the "Humane Slaughter Act." After being stunned, the birds pass through an automatic kill machine with a bleed out time of approximately two minutes. Birds are, then sent through a series of picking machines to remove the feathers. Chicken heads are removed and the birds are transferred to the eviscerating department. The evisceration department has two overhead lines. New Lines Speed or NELS which run a total of 265 birds per minute. USDA inspectors inspect each bird as they pass by. Once all the viscera are removed and the birds are cleaned, then, they will enter an antimicrobial rinse called TSP or Tri-Sodium Phosphate wash cabinet or dip tank. This rinse helps to reduce the number of microorganisms found on the carcass and adds three to five days of shelf life to the product.

The birds are, then, dropped into a series of three chiller tanks called the chiller process. Bird temperatures at this point are approximately 107 degrees F and, when the birds exit, they will be approximately 38 degrees F. The birds are, then, graded either A or B. They are, then, hung by one leg on the pack out line. Birds enter the cut-up room and are sized on an overhead sizing system, then, dropped at different locations throughout the cut-up room. All birds are cut to customer specifications. Birds are packaged in different boxes from 70 pounds to 40 pounds. Some products are packaged using CVP . The CVP process removes oxygen from the liner and adds CO2 (carbon dioxide) which extends shelf life. Ice or CO2 pellets (dry ice) are applied to the product and it is, then, palletized. The product is, then, moved to the cooler where it is stored before it is moved onto refrigerated trailers for shipping to customers. All products are HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Certified prior to shipment. Holmes Foods sells every part of the broiler produced including gizzards, livers and feet. The entrails and feathers are sold to a rendering company. Even the mass amounts of water used during production is filtered and used to irrigate our hay farm. In short, nothing goes to waste.

The efficiency of the processing plant allows Holmes Foods to produce quality poultry product second to none.

Quality Assurance Angela Salinas - QA Manager ext. 225
Jo Ann Rodriguez - QA Supervisor

Quality is more than a checklist of customer specification. Quality at our level is how we built relationships with our existing customers and why new customers will want to know more about our product. Our job is not only to produce food for commerce but for our own families. Pride in our product is what makes Holmes Foods second to none as a quality poultry product.

Quality is paramount! There are no exceptions. Our customers are our lifeline and without them there is no Holmes Foods. We pride ourselves on excellence of a custom product. We give the customer what they want ...period. Safe, Quality Food.

Production Shane Byrd - Plant Superintendent ext. 217

"While we are always striving to improve, eighty percent (80%) yield, one hundred percent (100%) line utilization and zero (0) lost time accidents in over two (2) years are an accomplishments. Our team is second to none. Priding themselves on safety, quality and efficiency, they continue to go above and beyond what is acceptable into what is exceptional. "

Sanitation

Josh Crisp - Sanitation Manger ext. 223

As a USDA inspected facility, sanitation must be exemplary. There is nowhere else where inspection is so important. Sanitation must be flawless day in and day out. Consistency is the key. A clean plant is a safe plant and we have both everyday.

We use R-Square Products (now AFCO) as a major chemical supplier. They supply us with all of our sanitation chemicals and equipment. We have established a lasting relationship with them over the last ten years. Jason Kempenski, their Western Regional Manager, provides the service that we expect from all of our industry partners. Thank you R-Square (AFCO) and thank you Jason. AFCO Chemicals and Equipment

Maintenance Wesley Wolf - Maintenance Manager ext. 208
Modesto Garcia - Maintenance Supervisor

100% Line efficiency for the last ten years. Nothing else need be said.

Thank you to all of the industry partners that continue to help keep us successful. Baader-Johnson, Meyn, Stork, Sigma and Gainco are just a few of the equipment suppliers that we here at Holmes Foods choose to help keep us as state-of-the-art as possible.

Baader-Johnson makes some of the best equipment on the market and their service is exactly what we require. Along with the auto-transfer machine and many other products we buy from Baader-Johnson, we have added one of their cut-up machines to our facility during our expansion and are very satisfied with the quality products they sell us.

Meyn has as recently as March of 2009 helped on a major dark meat sizing project. They have come in and installed a Huskey sizing and unloading mechanism to our Dapec Cut-up Machine. While the two weren't made for each other, we were able to make the necessary modifications to make them run like they were.

Most of our evisceration equipment is from Stork. Their products seem to hold up to the daily beating that we give these machines. From our state-of-the-art inspector's stations to our evisceration machine itself, Stork has provided us with equipment that can survive above and beyond what it is rated for...because that is how we will run it.

All of our weights and labeling needs are met by Sigma Scales (formerly Texas Scales). While not only supplying us with the equipment essentials and most advanced communication tools for that equipment, Sigma's service has been exemplary. Whether we need a service call at 4 am to help with start-up or a site visit to repair equipment that same day, Sigma has always met our expectations.

To ask a company to provide you with equipment that will go above and beyond what it was designed to do is not that uncommon, but to have that company come through and provide a product that can produce at twice the strain as it what is designed and expected to is an accomplishment. That is exactly what Gainco has done for Holmes Foods. While we require much more from all our products, none any more than Gainco's overhead sizing system. While only rated to run a single line at a max of 180 birds per minute (BPMs). We push it in access of 260 BPMs every minute of every single day and it works...period.

Refrigeration Kenny Lamza - Refrigeration Manager ext. 218

Refrigeration plays a very large role in the processing plant. To keep 20,000 square foot of production floor at 52 degrees, 20,000 square foot of cooler space under 36 degrees and 10,000 square foot of freezer space below zero it takes some doing. That doesn't include the ice production that is equivalent to almost two tons per hour.