What specific recommendation can be made for Tyson based on the problem at hand The shift helped

What specific recommendation can be made for Tyson based on the problem at hand

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The shift helped lift the beef business at Tyson, which supplies McDonald's and others, to a record year, but it hurt Tyson's typically more-profitable chicken division as increased burger sales ate into demand for chicken. Some hopeful signs have emerged recently for chicken demand. Burger King in October began selling 10 chicken nuggets for $1, and McDonald's is testing a new chicken sandwich both chains are supplied by Tyson. Tyson is also developing more profitable beef and pork products, such as packaged cuts for grocery stores. The company is also trying to improve its ability for forecast meat demand. In downtown Springdale, a yellow- and-red sign depicts a hatching chick atop a storefront that decades ago housed Tyson's Feed & Hatchery Inc., when it was still a small family business. Revamped and expanded with Silicon Valley flourishes including Ping-Pong tables and bike racks that fold out of the wall, the building now houses hundreds of workers for Tyson's technology division. Among the group's projects: developing artificial intelligence to help Tyson better predict the future. Scott Spradley, who left HP in 2017 to become Tyson's chief technology officer, said company data scientists are crunching numbers on major U.S. metropolitan areas. By analyzing historic meat consumption alongside demographic shifts, the number of residents moving in and out, and the frequency of birthdays and baseball games, Mr. Spradley said Tyson is building computer models that will help plan production and sales for its meat business. The effort aims to find patterns in data that Tyson's human economists and current projections might not see. A recent test applying the model to what happened in the past proved surprisingly accurate, said Mr. White, the CEO, and the company has started incorporating its projections into long-range planning. Deep data dives helped steer Tyson toward what executives say will be one of its biggest new product launches: plant-based replacements for traditional meat, which Ms. Grimes said Tyson plans to launch this year. Whether for vegetarians or just diners who want a meat-free option, "We want to have choices for those consumers," she said. The shift helped lift the beef business at Tyson, which supplies McDonald's and others, to a record year, but it hurt Tyson's typically more-profitable chicken division as increased burger sales ate into demand for chicken. Some hopeful signs have emerged recently for chicken demand. Burger King in October began selling 10 chicken nuggets for $1, and McDonald's is testing a new chicken sandwich both chains are supplied by Tyson. Tyson is also developing more profitable beef and pork products, such as packaged cuts for grocery stores. The company is also trying to improve its ability for forecast meat demand. In downtown Springdale, a yellow- and-red sign depicts a hatching chick atop a storefront that decades ago housed Tyson's Feed & Hatchery Inc., when it was still a small family business. Revamped and expanded with Silicon Valley flourishes including Ping-Pong tables and bike racks that fold out of the wall, the building now houses hundreds of workers for Tyson's technology division. Among the group's projects: developing artificial intelligence to help Tyson better predict the future. Scott Spradley, who left HP in 2017 to become Tyson's chief technology officer, said company data scientists are crunching numbers on major U.S. metropolitan areas. By analyzing historic meat consumption alongside demographic shifts, the number of residents moving in and out, and the frequency of birthdays and baseball games, Mr. Spradley said Tyson is building computer models that will help plan production and sales for its meat business. The effort aims to find patterns in data that Tyson's human economists and current projections might not see. A recent test applying the model to what happened in the past proved surprisingly accurate, said Mr. White, the CEO, and the company has started incorporating its projections into long-range planning. Deep data dives helped steer Tyson toward what executives say will be one of its biggest new product launches: plant-based replacements for traditional meat, which Ms. Grimes said Tyson plans to launch this year. Whether for vegetarians or just diners who want a meat-free option, "We want to have choices for those consumers," she said.