Plant City welcomes world’s first autonomous ice microfactory: 'It's cleaner packaging, it's safer'

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PLANT CITY, Fla. - We're used to hearing a lot about autonomous vehicles, but what about autonomous factories?

A pilot project just launched in Plant City, is bringing ice and innovation to the Bay Area.

What we know:

An ice ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday morning at the Winn-Dixie company's Plant City Distribution Center for the world's first autonomous ice microfactory.

It operates just like a traditional factory, except on a much smaller scale and powered by artificial intelligence.

"For every traditional or regional centralized factory, you'll have 20 or 30 microfactories in the local community. So, what that means is when you have a hurricane, a part of the network might go down, but people need ice to keep their food fresh, so now you can ship it along," Wayne McIntyre, CEO and co-founder of the tech company Relocalize, said.

Dig deeper:

The company has moved its ice-making factory from Jacksonville to a larger, updated facility in Plant City. Company leaders said the new location will help produce 'SE Grocers Party Cubes'—which are the first ice bags on the market to be certified as plastic-negative—locally and whenever customers need them.

SE Grocers Party Cubes are now available in the newly remodeled Temple Terrace Winn-Dixie.

The company states that it's expensive to ship and energy-intensive, so it's a huge advantage that the ice is produced locally and on demand. 

What they're saying:

Chief of Store Operations Adam Kirk says this process is a lot cleaner, too. 

Courtesy: St. John

"Not just a better product that tastes better; it's cleaner packaging. It's safer," Kirk said. "We're eliminating more plastic than we use in this process, and with the trucking reduction, we have the opportunity to reduce our CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent. That's why it's important right now, because it's sustainability and our environmental impact."

It also lasts longer in a glass.

"You can certainly get through your old-fashioned before the ice melts," said Kirk.

"I think this is a first step in probably microfactories in many different industries, but especially in food where local is better, but it makes us more competitive on the global stage," McIntyre noted.

What's next:

In the coming weeks, two more stores in the Tampa market will be introduced to the program, and then Winn-Dixie will expand it to its other stores across the state.