Agribusiness & Food

Allies in grain unite to upgrade malting plant

In 2019, Allied Grain Systems was contracted to upgrade one of the largest malting plants in the southern hemisphere. ABHR speaks to John White, the company’s Managing Director, to learn more.

In 2019, Allied Grain Systems was contracted to upgrade one of the largest malting plants in the southern hemisphere. ABHR speaks to John White, the company’s Managing Director, to learn more.

Boortmalt is one of the world’s largest malting companies, with a global production capacity of three million tonnes.

The company describes itself as “masters of malt”, in part due to its influence over every link in its supply chain, from seed to malt, to ensure a high level of quality.

In 2019, the company announced it had acquired agricultural company Cargill’s global malt business and 16 malthouses across nine countries – including Australia.

One of these sites, located in WA, was to undergo an upgrade. According to John White, Allied Grain Systems Managing Director, the site had grown over the decades to become one of the largest malting facilities in the southern hemisphere.

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To ensure it would continue producing malt of the highest quality possible, Allied Grain Systems was contracted to upgrade the facility.

“We were involved in coming up with the design for the new cleaning plant,” White says. “However, one of the challenges we faced was fitting it onto the existing site without disrupting operations.

“There were a number of civil works that needed to be done in a confined space in order for the upgrade to work, on top of finding a way to increase the storage capacity at the site.”

Allied Grain Systems is well acquainted with the Western Australian facility, having worked with major maltsters like Boortmalt before on other sites around the country. The team’s previous experience with Boortmalt meant Allied’s staff knew the level of quality that was expected from such an upgrade.

The team started works in May 2019, taking control of the entire upgrade process, from initial concept to pricing, to design and decommissioning. Allied Grain Systems prides itself on being a one-stop shop when it comes to grain infrastructure, especially for sites that require uninterrupted production.

White says this approach is easier for both the customer and his team. It means the customer doesn’t need to worry while Allied Grain Systems get on with the work.

“These kinds of sites are often built in urban areas without an abundance of room,” White says.

“We had to be especially accurate when building 3D models. Our engineers made sure what was being planned would actually fit into the system and comply with Australian Standards for access and safety.”

Much of the upgrade works occurred during mini-shutdowns or in off peak times such as weekends. Collaboration with the operations staff was vital to ensuring this went off without a hitch. Due to Allied Grain Systems’ previous strong relationship with the workers at the site, both companies enjoyed a strong working relationship.

Part of this comes from Allied Grain Systems’ strategy of immersing its staff in the project so they can quickly react to unforeseen circumstances before they snowball into a bigger problem. This could be finding underground electrical cables that weren’t detailed on any diagrams or drainage systems that hadn’t been included in plans.

Safety was a major factor in the works as well, as White says Boortmalt maintains similarly high standards.

“One of our big drawcards is our dedication to safety, and we were able to meet our clients need in that respect,” he says.

“Across all of our projects with Boortmalt, we’ve not had one medically-treated injury or lost time injury over 10 years.”

One reason for this track record is due to Allied Grain Systems supervisors that oversee the entire project, including other trades.

White believes that Allied Grain Systems manufactures some of the best grain storage vessels in Australia for malting applications. The company offers a range of different silos, including flat bottom and cone silos to fit the specific needs of the customer.

These can range from 250 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes for flat bottom silos and 10 tonnes to 300 tonnes for cones. All silos are built to Australian Standard 2628 (2010), which mandates silos be gas tight and sealable, suitable for fumigation.
Durability and weight were major considerations for the Boortmalt upgrade, as the silos also provide support for overhead structures, conveyors and walkways. Each are made from abrasion-resistant materials and have heavy-duty wall sheets, up to 12 millimetres thick.

Works are still ongoing and are expected to be complete in April 2020. White says his team have enjoyed working with Boortmalt and would like to continue that relationship.

“We appreciate everything they’ve done for us and want to continue supporting them as a business,” he says.

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