Founded by an engineer designing agricultural equipment for the local community, custom creations and innovation are still core to HE Silo’s business.
Silos come in all shapes and sizes, but for some bulk handlers, a more tailored approach is needed.
Custom silos have the benefit of being designed around the environment and systems they must work in, meaning they are often more effective than a stock model.
According to Stevie-Leigh Morrison, Business Manager at HE Silos, there has been a trend towards these custom designs as clients have seen a need to better meet storage requirements.
“We’ve had customers that operate breweries, pet food factories, flour mills and even a bean bag manufacturer that required a silo for the styrofoam balls. We’ve even had requests for silos that could be pulled behind a ute, or situated high up to feed grain into the back of a truck with the press of a button,” she says.
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“Each has had different storage requirements weren’t being met by a regular silo.”
HE Silos, originally based in Hillston, New South Wales, began as an engineering company providing custom designs for the local agricultural industry. This included anything from machinery and shearing sheds to commercial grain storage complexes.
While the family business has grown significantly over the past 50 years, Morrison says the engineering spirit of her grandfather hasn’t gone anywhere.
“We have a team of engineers that work together to design almost any type of silo, from a four-tonner to a 1000 tonne flat-bottom silo,” she says.
“We’re one of the only silo manufacturers in the country that have such a range of customisation available.”
Innovation and development are key parts of the design process. Staff at HE Silos are on hand to discuss detailed specifications with customers in order to create the right solution for a certain site and can then build and install it.
The company operates two factories, one in Forbes and another in Gunnedah, with custom designed manufacturing equipment, developed in-house. Morrison says this gives HE Silos a fundamental understanding of the manufacturing process. In addition, the factories make use of best-practice technologies and engineering processes to ensure maximum efficiency and safety.
As a result of its focus on innovation and design, the company has been able to keep up with market trends and offer expert advice for operators and farmers.
“We have all the resources available to provide a silo that is fit for almost any specification,” Morrison says.
“We’ve seen a great response from customers as well. They’ve seen the benefits of having a custom silo and find it allows them to expand their operations and provides a higher return on investment (ROI).
“It’s important to us that we deliver the best ROI possible, because the company believe that every grain counts.”
Ensuring Australia’s food supply chain is well equipped is HE Silos’ mission, and has been working to provide the infrastructure required to make that happen. The company has helped farmers through times of drought and believes it has a role in ensuring the industry remains reliable in the wake of devastating bushfires and a pandemic.
Part of this is achieved by keeping the agricultural industry informed of the latest innovations and technologies designed to store grain.
Morrison says there is more to it than just placing grain in a silo, and that there should be effort placed on maintaining the quality of the grain for as long as possible.
To help keep its customers and community informed, HE Silos launched an online platform with articles written by engineering and grain experts called ‘The Silologist’. The content aims to offer fast facts about the grain storage and agricultural industry that are easy to digest wherever someone is.
It also offers warrantees on all of the company’s silos, and can provide upgrades if a customer wants to continue developing down the track.
Morrison says the company has a few new announcements in the pipeline for 2020, but for the meantime, the focus is on providing overwhelming support.