New innovation for Chicago’s oldest industry: Robotics demand surges for meatpacking in Illinois

Formic Technologies Inc. has opened a new 53,000-square-foot headquarters in Bolingbrook, Ill., to keep up with rising demand for its robots-as-a-service model for meat manufacturers, according to a press release by Business Wire. The new site is the Chicago-area startup’s largest facility and is five times bigger than its previous location, according to the company.

Formic said the move comes as its robotic fleet passed 650,000 production hours in 2026. The company confirmed that growth reflects stronger demand from small and mid-sized manufacturers that want automation without a large upfront investment.

Subscribe to Chicago Star’s Weekly City Buzz Newsletter

Automation grows as labor pressure rises

Formic COO Danijel Lolic said, “This space exists because the demand is real, the pipeline is growing, and we need the room to meet it,” according to Business Wire. Shawn Fitzgerald, Formic’s chief revenue officer, said machine tending opens the door to metal parts makers serving aerospace and automotive customers, who have long faced barriers to automation, according to the same report.

Formic already offers palletizing, case packing, and pallet wrapping, and it plans to expand into machine tending, the company confirmed. Customers pay a flat monthly rate that includes installation and maintenance, Formic said.

Robots improving the meat-making industry

The expansion comes as manufacturers look for ways to address labor shortages on production lines. Just last year, Formic said Illinois deli meat maker Land O’Frost used its robots at a Lansing plant and cut labor costs by 20%, according to another press release from Business Wire.

More specifically, Land O'Frost said five gantry-style palletizing robots from Formic were installed at its Lansing, Illinois, plant, helping the company cut daily labor-related operating expenses and shift workers into new roles as robot operators. Formic confirmed it handled the deployment, training, and maintenance under its Robots-as-a-Service model, per the announcement.

Read more on Chicago Star

• LiveLaunch helps online brands transition offline with opening of new Fulton Market retail hub

• Meta, Zuckerberg works on image problem—donates 130K Ray-Ban AI glasses to blind veterans 

• Fox makes its biggest streaming bet in a $22B deal to buy Roku

• Nvidia breaks into healthcare industry, announces new AI model in partnership with Abridge

Frank Mejia, head of continuous improvement at Land O'Frost, said, per the press release, “When I saw the opportunity for automation to eliminate repetitive production line tasks while simultaneously improving our employees' lives, it was an easy decision.” 

Formic founder and CEO Saman Farid added in the announcement from last year, saying, “Land O'Frost has always focused on finding new ways to innovate their production processes, which is how they've continually grown since their founding in the 1940s.” He noted the robots removed unnecessary downtime and helped reduce overall operating expenses.

Formic deployed all five systems over two weekends while production continued. The company said the systems were programmed for all stock-keeping units, allowing changeovers to move from lengthy discussions to a few clicks on a touchscreen.

Land O'Frost reportedly hosted a Formic Automation Community event on April 30, 2025, at its Illinois facility to show how the robots support the production of 128,000 pounds of meat a day.

Now, Formic confirmed it will open a second facility in Oakland, Calif., in August, extending its U.S. footprint beyond the Midwest.