BinMaster Distributor Powers Up Poultry Mill
This Midwest-based poultry feed mill stores numerous grains, additives, and supplements both in liquid and solid form. Bins containing materials such as liquified fat and lime that piles unevenly are some of the more challenging bins to measure. The site has bins of all shapes and sizes. Some have cone bottoms. Many of the bins are steel, but there is a large slip concrete structure housing bins containing many different materials. Process and environmental conditions are typical of most feed mills with materials prone to dust and a facility that is large and spread out.
BinMaster distributor Wm. Neundorfer & Company was up for the challenge of making this mill’s inventory process more efficient. Neundorfer’s relationship with this feed mill dates back prior to the mill’s construction more than a decade ago. Tom Hartman, of Wm. Neundorfer has been on the job from the very beginning. The project started with dropping off a binder of BinMaster brochures even before construction started.
Bob to the rescue!
Early phases of the system included the installation of over fifty SmartBob continuous level sensors. The SmartBob weight-and-cable style sensors use a “digestible bottle” as a weight, which is a plastic container filled with an edible wax. It is referred to as digestible, as if the bob should disconnect from the cable, it can run through (be digested by) the augers without damaging any equipment or contaminating any of the feedstuffs.
Most of the SmartBobs are mounted on top of silos housed inside a large concrete structure. Lined up like soldiers, these level sensors are programmed to take measurements every few hours, with the option of taking an on-demand measurement when it is needed.
Saving on Wiring
Neundorfer helped the mill be very creative in the application of BinMaster technology. As the mill is spread out, they used just about every configuration possible to get measurement data displayed where mill staff needed it. The WL-19D wireless radios helped to reduce the need for wiring. The majority of the SmartBob level sensors are daisy chained and viewed on the same PC located in the mill office.
Easy Data Access
The production staff accesses inventory from Binventory® (eBob v. 5.10) software from a computer in the office or a C-100 display console that they can walk up to for easy access at ground level. One of the benefits of the software and the console is the ability to take an immediate measurement when bins are loaded and unloaded.
Long Term Commitment
BinMaster has been the first and only inventory system in the mill. Wm. Neundorfer and BinMaster are committed to keeping it that way, continued Hartman. “We make it a point to check in with our customers and let them know about the latest advances that BinMaster has to offer. For example, the 3DLevelScanner technology helped the mill make more informed production and ordering decisions.”
