With a clear vision to increase production volumes and efficiencies, feed manufacturer I’Anson Bros is investing in a new state of the art manufacturing facility in North Yorkshire. As a company they continue to grow and move forward, investing in new technology to realise efficiencies and reduce the cost of product. It is this ethos and foresight that resonated when they heard about FeedAlert silo monitoring from Collinson.

Until now the exact contents of a silo have been difficult to measure and feed order quantities have been an educated guess, this is fine until someone orders too much, too little or forgets altogether! Customer service is of the highest priority at I’Anson, so developing a system which avoids run-outs and last-minute orders is a win-win for both the farmer and the feed manufacturer. 

The FeedAlert Business Development Manager at Collinson, Matthew Lambert contacted I’Anson to introduce this new digital tech. FeedAlert silo monitoring provides reliable data for inventory control, a tool which can help not only the feed supplier but also the end user realise efficiencies. What’s more, the system is low cost and can be quickly and simply be installed on the leg of the silo, making it the perfect solution for existing silos, no need to lift the silo for load cells or work at height for roof mounted products.

Once zeroed and calibrated the system provides reliable intel as to the contents of the silo, meaning feed orders can be managed in a more efficient manner, longer production runs and the ability to improve logistical planning create significant efficiencies in themselves, this improved process also means an enhanced customer service.

Importantly the system is suitable for all makes of silo, meaning there are no barriers to I’Anson installing it on selected customer silos.  Once installed, data is transmitted to the cloud via a roaming SIM; this can then be viewed remotely via the App and/or Portal. I’Anson now have over 50 systems monitoring the fill level of the silos, this insight enables them to create efficiencies around feed ordering, deliveries and all other associated activities.  A flexible system which consists of a one-off hardware purchase where levels can be viewed locally to the silo, a subscription is also required if the user or feed company wishes to view data remotely.  Who pays for what is at the agreement of the end user / feed manufacturer.

Andrew Harrison, Technical Sales Manager at I’Anson, leads the FeedAlert Project, and said ‘The intelligence FeedAlert gives us is invaluable, it helps with all customers but especially those with bespoke formulations as we can accurately predict how much feed is needed, and when.

“We also know the actual capacity of the bins now, which has helped us increase the load and run size by over 50% in some cases. We’re already seeing a considerable saving on fuel, even with only 50 systems and so we can see the potential the system has and continue to grow our numbers, it keeps road miles down and ultimately our carbon footprint, something we are continuing to focus on.”

Monitoring of the silo’s is not overly time consuming, there are only a handful of bins per day which require an action, with the others either full or a delivery has already been planned. The app and portal are easy to use and clear for all employees to monitor.’

‘As a tool FeedAlert will help us avoid expensive weekend working, as we know either who needs the delivery on Friday or can last until Monday. Being able to check how much a customer needs and when means we can make decisions based on reliable data, there’s no more guessing and we can confidently assure customers that they have enough feed to take them through the weekend, or not as the case may be.  It is particularly beneficial over Bank Holidays, identifying which customers needed their deliveries on which day, it gives us peace of mind we knew their levels and requirement, smoothing production and planning over what is typically a busy time, very often due to orders which could have waited until after the weekend/bank holiday but due to the uncertainty of exactly how much is actually in the silo a delivery has to be accommodated, the last thing you want is a ‘run-out’ phone call on Bank Holiday Sunday!’ 

It is a very flexible system, currently we have bought the hardware in order to get the data, and get the ball rolling, if a customer moves on, we can relocate it to another customer. We also have users that have invested in their own system, and they have just changed us to their feed supplier, giving us sight of the data.

Andrew finished, ‘The portal allows us to identify requirements much earlier, schedule orders in and liaising with customers, they can confirm their requirements. It’s a great feeling when a customer rings in with a last-minute order to be told we’ve already got it planned in! I’Anson are going to continue to invest in more FeedAlert systems, they are helping us meet our core principles of ‘Service and Quality’.

Speak to our team to find out more about how FeedAlert can benefit your business.