In October 2023, Hill’s Pet Nutrition opened the doors to its newest manufacturing facility in Tonganoxie, Kan. The facility boasts several smart innovations, from artificial intelligence (AI) used to power a digital food safety system to robotic devices. 

To construct its new facility, Hill’s partnered with Lexington, Ky.-based Gray, which provided engineering, design, construction, digital and equipment manufacturing services through its Gray family of companies. For example, Gray leveraged its manufacturing capabilities to create over 25 stainless-steel platforms on which to house the facility’s equipment. 

At the heart of the Tonganoxie plant is the Mission Control room. Filled with computer monitoring stations linked to every part of the facility’s operations, the room acts as a command center to allow operations employees to track the entire manufacturing process, from raw material through packaging and distribution.

As product flows throughout the plant — from ingredient receiving to ingredient dosing to mixing and processing, then filling, sterilization and finally to packaging — the production process is a unique “enclosed system.” All ingredients and dosing are monitored in the Mission Control room to ensure accuracy. 

The plant is equipped with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to alleviate some of the manual tasks performed by employees, such as transferring meats and other raw materials around the plant. Totes and bins would normally be transported by employees, but instead, AMRs take the ingredients where they need to go with the help of RFID chips located inside the totes and pallets.

Hill’s new facility specifically manufactures wet pet food, producing more than 170 varieties of dog and cat foods, as well as the company’s Science Diet and Prescription Diet lines. There are separate canning lines for smaller 5-oz cans, pictured here, and larger 12.8- to 13.5-oz cans. 

Once cans are filled and sealed, they are sent through the cooker upside down. Following this they are flipped right side up, cooled, and then labeled. 

Product is tested by employees during every shift to ensure consistent quality and food safety. 

After passing inspection, cans are then stacked, with 5-oz sizes double-stacked and packaged 24 in a tray. Two packaging lines separate the small and large cans, which pass throughout at a rate of over 1,000 cans per minute.

Among the various wet dog and cat food formulas, Hill’s facility also manufactures its signature Prescription Diet line that homes in on addressing specific health conditions in cats and dogs, like C/D Multicare with Ocean Fish recipe pictured here. This formula specifically targets urinary issues in felines. 

Robotics are used to reduce manual labor tasks, such as palletizing. Once palletized, the shrink-wrapped cans are shipped out of eight bays daily. 

Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s commitment to science-led nutrition and responsibility have guided the company through its evolution from 1939 to the present. In addition to highly automized capabilities, the new facility also includes sustainable features to address the company’s carbon, energy and water usage.