BinSentry, a company focused on increasing efficiencies and worker safety in the $500B global animal feed supply chain, has made significant technology advancements that will not only increase profits but will help to reduce feed waste and carbon emissions. Pairing best-in-class IoT sensors that are proven to provide a new level of accuracy for feed inventory monitoring with new software tools that utilize artificial intelligence to create alerts and suggestions is unlocking new cost savings and optimizing feed resources for feed mills and animal producers alike.
“Sensors are a vital part of the equation, but they need to be extremely accurate in order to really help. Our latest 3D sensors have proven to be more than 98% accurate, each one taking over 9,000 measurements multiple times a day to account for uneven product flow, even in humid weather,” says Nathan Hoel, CTO for BinSentry.
The new 3D sensors still use BinSentry’s patented installation technology that allows them to install in less than 15 minutes with no need for wires or hubs of any kind. Every device is powered by solar and can last for months without sunlight. Each device is also equipped with its own dedicated LTE-M modem that keeps it connected even in the most remote locations.
Building software tools that can ingest, interpret and improve the information that the sensors provide unlocks cost savings for feed mills and animal producers. “We’ve gone from multiple employees ordering feed in multiple ways to having a single person in charge of feed ordering and demand forecasting. It’s a night and day difference. Before, we couldn’t see what was happening with feed at our farms, and now we can,” said Nick DeKryger at Belstra, a leading feed mill and swine producer in Indiana.
Dennis Organ, previous CEO at Smithfield Foods, the largest pork company in the world, and chairman of the board at BinSentry, says, “BinSentry allows producers and feed mills to gain visibility to the controllable costs in their feed supply chain. Supply chain costs are typically managed by comparing them to prior performance. BinSentry’s digitization of the feed supply chain will allow producers to compare their performance to their potential, not just their past. Accurate real-time visibility of on-hand inventory, a feed consumption budget based on barn population and genetics, all seamlessly integrated with existing software tools, will provide the visibility that is critical for the industry to move from the current inefficient analog process to the digitized Mill of the Future.”
The ability to create extremely accurate views into feed inventories in real-time depends on the software that BinSentry has moved to protect through patents. With two new patents filed within the last few months, BinSentry is moving to protect its lead. “While the hardware is important, the software that allows it to be so accurate and reliable is unique to BinSentry, and we will continue to invest in this IP,” said Nathan Hoel, CTO at BinSentry.
Owning the most reliable data stream for animal feed inventory in the world has given BinSentry the opportunity to evolve its data management tools and focus efforts on supporting customer efforts to benefit from this new data stream. “Our customers are good at managing animal feed. We can help them be great. Every time we help them reduce feed expenses by 1%, that cost savings drops straight down to their bottom line. These companies manage inputs aggressively, and supporting their efforts to manage their largest input, animal feed, is what we do every day,” said Ben Allen, CEO at BinSentry.
