Gray Project Receives Manufacturing Innovation Award

Gray was recently honored to receive ProFood World‘s 2024 Manufacturing Innovation Award for the design-build of Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s new wet pet food manufacturing facility in Tonganoxie, KS.

The project award—and its recent cover feature article in ProFood World magazine—come as recognition of the collaboration between Gray and Hill’s to create a hypermodern, highly automated facility that would set a new standard in wet pet food processing.

Tonganoxie, KS

Location
366,850 s.f.

Square Footage
27 months

Operational

The task to create the industry’s most advanced pet food manufacturing facility required expertise from the entire family of Gray companies. Gray leveraged its full capabilities for the 366,000 s.f. greenfield production plant, from seasoned construction experts and engineers to innovative designers and automators to professionals in robotics and purpose-built equipment.

ProFood World‘s criteria for the Manufacturing Innovation Award include a high level of technology advancement in processing and packaging machinery, automation, software, and controls as well as major efficiency and cost savings, flexible manufacturing, outstanding use of methods such as Lean, and more.

ProFood World praised the Tonganoxie plant for its modern, efficient design, stating that it “exemplifies strategic planning and innovation.”

“The newly constructed facility stands as a testament to strategic foresight and meticulous planning, and is designed to meet the demand for pet nutrition products while embracing the latest in automation, sustainability, and labor savings,” states the article.

"Gray is proud to partner with Hill's on this incredible effort to carry the pet food industry into the future. This plant will help meet Hill's growing demand for science-led pet nutrition and serve as a model for future success throughout the food & beverage market."

Tyler Cundiff, President, Integrated Process Group, Gray, Inc.

A Legacy of Innovation

Gray has been honored with the Manufacturing Innovation Award for the second year in a row: in 2023, Gray received the award as ProFood World recognized Prestage Farms for its innovative air-chill turkey processing facility in Camden, SC.

This year’s award marks the fourth time since 2018 that a Gray project has been recognized with the award. Other winners included Kraft Heinz in 2021 and Clemens Food Group in 2018.

"Gray has built one of the most impressive manufacturing facilities we've seen."

Chad Sharp, Director of Manufacturing

Hill's Pet Nutrition

Honors for Sustainability

Gray executed the project using design-build delivery, a method heralded for its efficiency thanks to the prioritization of integrated teams and collaborative decision-making. Gray also placed a critical emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability—factors that contributed to the facility’s LEED® Gold certification as well as cost and time savings.

Designers looked for every opportunity to implement sustainability measures that would reduce waste during construction and conserve resources throughout the facility’s operational lifespan.

These included incorporating automation and optimized equipment layouts that allowed designers to eliminate nearly 100,000 s.f. from the original building footprint. Water conservation and reuse at various process stages also played a major role, while high-efficiency LEDs and the use of DC variable-frequency-drive motors helped reduce the use of electricity.

Thanks to these efforts, the facility achieved LEED Gold certification—a rarity for a wet pet food manufacturing facility.