ABHR learns why Conveyor Industries has incorporated Italian-made Poggi silos into its turn-key package and what it means for Australian bulk handlers.
Around six years ago, the team at Conveyor Industries began searching for a silo supplier.
The company, whose team boasts almost four decades of heavy-industry experience, is a turn-key provider for material handling projects. It wanted to expand its offering with a new range for clients.
Simon Berkett, a business development manager for Conveyor Industries, said one of the company’s directors travelled to the Northern Hemisphere with a shortlist of brands to explore. After an extensive search, they returned home to New Zealand with a new supplier – Poggi.
“The ease of dealing with them and the quality of the product was what stood out to us,” Berkett told ABHR.
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“Poggi’s equipment adheres to European standards that closely align with Australasian standards, making it suitable for our market.
“They had a great range of horizontal and vertical silos and were looking to support a company like us that sold into the Australian and New Zealand markets.”
Conveyor Industries has extensive experience designing, manufacturing and installing material handling equipment for its clients. It works closely with its clients to ensure the equipment is long-lasting and fulfils the project requirements.
The company’s in-house design team collaborates with Poggi to ensure a silo will fit into the project. The silos are then manufactured in Italy and adapted to the local standards, using local structural engineers to confirm they meet all regulations and geotechnical conditions.
“A project might include mechanical conveying equipment, such as hoppers, bucket elevators, screw conveyors, belt conveyors, silos, and more,” Berkett said.
“Our customers are looking for one team to handle the whole thing, from foundation to supply to commissioning.
“We have experience in providing project management on complete turn-key solutions. It usually involves developing a system from scratch, using our client’s preferred supplier of core equipment and specialised processing machinery.”
Poggi silos are often used for minerals, including cement, limestone and fly ash. They have also been deployed for plastic production and storing wood pellets and biofuels as industries move away from coal-fuelled boilers.
One client required additional storage capacity for wood pellet fuel to fire a community boiler. Due to a remote location, the client often experienced access issues in winter due to road closures and consequently ran out of wood pellets.
Conveyor Industries supplied a Poggi circular panel silo that provided a larger capacity, eliminating disruption in the supply chain and creating a more sustainable system for the client.
The project scope was turn-key and included the design, construction, and site installation of the silo and screw conveying system, the foundation design and build, and electrics and automation.
Berkett said Conveyor Industries has access to a network of international suppliers and works with customers to ensure the capital expenditure meets the lifecycle requirements, including operation and maintenance costs and plant life expectations.
“It’s easier for the client; instead of having to manage the entire process themselves, we can take care of it,” Berkett said.
“Instead of multiple parties on site, it’s all the one supplier they know they can trust. Some businesses don’t have the internal resources and would need to hire an external team to manage it all.”
Conveyor Industries has an excellent project documentation system that allows the company to readily supply spare parts out of NZ, with the team available for further assistance if required.
The NZ-based company already has experience installing bulk material handling equipment and turn-key systems in Australia and plans to continue expanding its presence across the Tasman.
Berkett said shipping is becoming more reliable, and international freight prices are dropping following the chaotic times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Regarding silos, we’re looking to grow our brand in Australia,” he said.
“We have a great reputation in New Zealand and we want to see that spread.”