Gundagai Meat Processors (GMP) has begun a $35 million expansion project, delivered by Wiley, which will lead to a 40% increase in annual production capacity and create 76 new full-time jobs over the next five years.
GMP worked collaboratively with Wiley in the detailed master planning exercise to ensure the company met their project objectives. These objectives were to increase production, ensure compliance with ongoing customer requirements (for export and for key client Coles Supermarkets) as well as to replace aging infrastructure at the facility. Fundamentally this will put GMP at the cutting edge of lamb processing, including utilisation of the latest technology whilst exceeding the ever-increasing compliance demands of the industry.
Wiley’s David Burton Bradley, Hon Ms Hodgkinson, Will Barton CEO GMP, Wiley’s Tom Wiley & Ken Coppard
Wiley is looking forward to the delivery stage of the expansion project which touches almost every area of the meat processing facility. The lairage, slaughter floor, offal areas, chillers, loadout, administration and amenities. With tricky interfaces, thorough planning was crucial to ensure there is no loss in production levels during the construction phase. This will be achieved by a staged process and out of hours works during delivery.
GMP CEO, Will Barton said “This project marks another incredibly important milestone for our business, our family, our hardworking employees and for the community of Gundagai. The investment will create 76 new jobs, boost local spending by an estimated $3 million during the construction phase alone and generate ongoing stimulus to the local economy, estimated to be in excess of $150 million per year.”
Wiley Managing Director, Tom Wiley, praised the Barton family for their commitment to upgrading their facility, ensuring they continue to be a key pillar of the local Gundagai community. “GMP is implementing new technology which will take them well into the future. The facility will have full traceability of the lamb carcass, executed and tracked with RFID tags. Provisions too have been made for future x-ray (DEXA) capacity in the facility which will enable GMP to understand the supply chain even further with yield insights.
From an operation initially processing around 100 lambs per week, GMP has gone on to secure major supply contracts, including a 35-year supplier relationship with Coles, and processes more than 625,000 lambs annually, making GMP one of the largest employers in the region.
Wiley is proud to be delivering this project with GMP and are looking forward to creating a world class facility enabling the Barton family to continue being a key player in the Gundagai meat industry for years to come.
