Export Wheat Terminal - GAVILON TAPS MONTANA’S RICHEST WHEAT-GROWING COUNTRY
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- oneWeigh technology
- Intersystems drag conveyors
- Schlagel programmable rotary distributor
- Intersystems legs
- Brock sweep augers
Tech Stack
- oneWeigh control system
- Cultura Technologies
- NCH Controls
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
- Agriculture
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Supply Chain Visibility
- Inventory Management
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
Gavilon Grain, LLC is a company based in Omaha, NE. Founded in 2008, it has a storage capacity of 320 million bushels at 145 locations and employs around 2,000 people. The company handles a variety of crops including wheat, corn, soybeans, and specialty grains. Gavilon offers a range of services such as grain origination, storage and handling, transportation and logistics, merchandising and distribution, and risk management. The company's newest rail-loading terminal near Chester, MT features 1 million bushels of upright storage and 110-car shuttle train loading capability using oneWeigh technology.
The Challenge
The fertile plains in the north central part of Montana, just east of the Rockies and south of the Canadian border, is often called the Hi-Line. It refers to the main line of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, originally the Great Northern Railway, the northernmost line of the 19th century transcontinental railroads. The Hi-Line’s major purpose was to carry wheat from Montana back east to the big flour mills around Minneapolis, MN or farther west for export from the Pacific Northwest. That is still its major purpose today and the main reason Gavilon Grain, LLC chose to build a brand new rail terminal elevator on a loop track at Chester, MT. This area of the Hi-Line doesn’t always get the most rainfall, so the yields aren’t always the best. But the quality of the wheat here is very good, and Gavilon wanted this type of grain for export at their joint venture terminal in Kalama, WA.
The Solution
To tap the potential of the Hi-Line, Gavilon built a new 1-million-bushel slipform concrete elevator outside Chester, with capacity for another 2.6 million bushels in an outdoor pile, and a 8,190-foot loop track siding off of the BNSF. The main concrete structure consists of six large tanks plus three interstices, one of which houses the bulk weigh loadout scale and protects it from the elements. The big tanks stand 48 feet in diameter and 120 feet tall holding 173,000 bushels each. They have flat concrete floors, 16-inch Brock sweep augers, and two 50-hp AIRLANCO centrifugal fans per tank generating an estimated 1/5 cfm per bushel of aeration. The two centermost tanks have sidedraw spouts. Incoming trucks carry grain to a 120- foot Fairbanks inbound scale and an Intersystems truck probe for sampling. Then, a oneWeigh scale automation system from Cultura Technologies directs the trucker to one of two mechanical receiving pits holding 400 and 850 bushels, respectively. After depositing grain, trucks proceed to an outbound Fairbanks scale and pick up their scale tickets from an outdoor printer.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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