DODGE CITY, KAS. – Cargill is investing $48 million in an automated order distribution system at its Dodge City beef slaughtering and processing plant. Construction is scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2013 and the system is slated to be operational by the spring of 2015, according to the company.

The new order distribution system is capable of holding approximately 155,000 boxes of beef and will be housed in a new 62,000-square-foot building the company is building specifically for that purpose. The system will increase the plant’s boxed beef capacity at Dodge City by 130,000 boxes.

“This new distribution system will benefit our customers by improving order accuracy and on-time delivery, in addition to providing better capability to handle the ever-increasing complexity of product offerings shipped to domestic and international markets,” said John Keating, president of Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Beef.

Cargill’s Dodge City beef plant slaughters 6,000 head of cattle per day and employs approximately 2,700.