The document describes presentations from 11 companies at an early morning gathering of The Grain Elevator and Processing Society members focused on new products and ideas. The companies presented developments to improve inventory management, traceability, safety, monitoring, and automation for grain facilities. Six of the best ideas covered a railcar vibrator lifter, hazard monitoring system, speed sensor for machinery, and an all-in-one cable for bin monitoring of temperature, moisture, and other conditions.

1. Kasa Controls & Automation by John Claman, Representative, Kasa Controls & Automation
“KTrack Bin Inventory Management and Traceability
Software by Konnection provides bin graphics with
commodities, volume, and grade factors per bin.
It improves inventory management and provides
‘one step back/one step forward’ traceability as
required by the 2002 Bioterrorism Act and by processors due to FSMA.
“KTrack works with existing scale-interface software to assign inbound
and outbound tickets to the corresponding destination or source bins. It
provides bin determination to prevent co-mingling of commodities and
helps segregate wet, dry, high protein, GMO, etc.
“For producers, KTrack sends texts and emails of ticket data upon weigh
out, improving harvest decisions, quality, and customer service and for
plant operators, KTrack sends texts and emails as bins near full to prevent
slugging.
“Our software also sends messages if trucks are onsite longer than usual.
KTrack can be accessed remotely, display multiple locations, and can
improve service to customers as well as public and employee safety.”
Email: jclaman@konnection.com
www.konnection.com
R. Stahl Inc by Ross Blanford, Southeastern
Regional Sales Director, R. Stahl Inc
“The R. Stahl Epik breaker panel is one of a series of
solutions designed for the NEC market to eliminate
the need for cast aluminum enclosures in areas
where hazardous dusts, gases and fibers are present.
“Constructed of 316S stainless steel, it is designed using UL489 certified
explosion protected breaker technology, moving the explosion protection
from the enclosure to the breaker itself providing a safer and more cost
effective way to install power distribution, heat trace and lighting panels in
hazardous locations.
“This is a Class II, Division 1 & 2 Group G certified product with main lug only
distribution, up to 42 circuits, GFI/GFCI available in 5mA and 30mA and a
unique photo cell designed with both battery back-up and standard fixtures
“R. Stahl offers a complete selection of explosion protected electrical and
automation equipment along with custom system solutions to help prevent
explosions in your facility.”
Email: ross.blanford@rstahl.com
www.rstahl.com
‘The early bird catches the worm,’ an English proverb which dates back to 1670s, was evident in Austin,
Texas, USA in February when Kirby Bradley of chaired an early morning gathering of The Grain Elevator and
Processing Society (GEAPS) members under the banner of an Idea Exchange.
Each year a number of companies are selected to give brief presentations on how their product or idea
benefits the industry. This year 11 companies participated and presented their latest developments in just a
few minutes – the microphone going dead when time was up.
The Idea Exchange is open to all registered attendees and the conference hall at 09:00 on Sunday February
28, 2016 was crowed with standing room only.
Milling and Grain presents six of the best ‘ideas’ presented this year in our post-event report below:
THE IDEA EXCHANGE
SIX OF THE BEST
42 | May 2016 - Milling and Grain
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2. The Arnold Company by Albert
Middeke, President and owner of the Arnold
Company
“The ‘Rhino’ Railcar Vibrator Lifter removes the
danger of lifting, attaching and removing heavy
railcar vibrators.
“Although very beneficial, railcar vibrators typically weigh between 65-
85lbs (30-40kg), making the task of lifting and maneuvering them quite
unsafe for one person.
“The Rhino is powered by a pneumatic motor which operates a smooth
and powerful hydraulic system designed to safely and easily adjust the
vibrator height and angle with simple joystick controls. This enables a single
user to easily lift and align the railcar vibrator to attach and remove it from
the railcar pocket.
“The vibrator and the lifter operate off of the same pneumatic line,
allowing the user to simply switch air power from the Rhino’s hydraulics to
the pneumatic vibrator with the touch of a lever. Custom brackets allow
the lifter to be used with either roller vibrators or piston vibrators.
Email: albert@arnoldcompany.com
Website: www.arnoldcompany.com
Electro-Sensors Inc by Rick Eller, Sales and Business Development Manager, Electro-Sensors Inc
“As crop production and facility automation
increase, requirements for hazard monitoring
systems to quickly and accurately detect and
report equipment failures also increase. This is
especially critical where undetected warnings
or slow responsiveness may lead to catastrophic
losses of human life or plant equipment.
“Traditionally, bearing temperature warning and shutdown values were
fixed and did not compensate for fluctuating environments or seasonal
temperatures. The HazardPRO TM wireless system solves this by adding
ambient sensors in combination with equipment temperature sensors to
minimize false alarms while immediately notifying of legitimate warnings to
ensure equipment is safely managed.
“Grain elevators incorporating HazardPRO utilize ambient sensors on each
side of the tail and head sections to continuously monitor temperature
changes and adjust warning and shutdown set points real-time and
in direct proportion with the current conditions. The resulting benefit
of ambient compensation is increased plant safety with fewer invalid
nuisance alarms.”
Email: reller@electro-sensors.com
www.electro-sensors.com
4B Components Ltd by Brian Knapp,
Vice President – Electronics Division of 4B
Components Ltd
“The Milli-Speed is a two-wire loop powered 4-20
mA analog output sensor. It is designed to detect
belt slip, belt under speed, stop motion, low speed
or zero speed on bucket elevators, conveyors,
airlocks, fans and other rotating machines.
“The Milli-Speed is set to the machine’s normal running speed by simple
magnetic calibration. During calibration, the 4-20mA linear output signal is
automatically scaled for zero speed (4mA) to full speed (17mA) with over
speed detection (20mA). Unlike other 4-20mA sensors, the output signal of
the Milli-Speed is consistent over different shaft speeds, which eliminates
PLC or DCS programming errors.
“The Milli-Speed is Class II Division 1 Groups E, F & G approved for
hazardous dust environments. Additionally, 4B’s SpeedMaster™ can be
used to verify the calibration of the Milli-Speed to ensure that the alarm
and shutdown features of your entire system are working correctly.”
Email: bknapp@go4b.com
Website: www.go4b.com/usa
BinMaster by Scott Hudson, Executive Vice
President of Sales & Marketing, BinMaster
“Simple, yet sophisticated bin monitoring that
tracks real-time temperature development, grain
moisture trending, early spoilage detection (CO2
),
and level indication can now be achieved using a
single cable.
“The All-in-One cable is a breakthrough
advancement in grain monitoring that saves money and simplifies
installation while providing precise digital reporting for a variety of silo and
grain conditions. A single cable can monitor temperature, grain moisture,
silo head space moisture and if desired, integrate a CO2
sensor option. It
can also give an approximation of the level of grain in the silo.
“Data is sent to the Crop-Protector™ Manager software for a complete
overview of conditions for each silo, with a matrix view of the entire
operation. The All-in-One system allows you to monitor temperature, grain
moisture, spoilage protection (with optional CO2
sensor) and control of
your aeration fans and roof vents from a single software.
Email: jchristensen@binmaster.com
www binmaster.com
Milling and Grain - May 2016 | 43