News
Herminio Perez, SCAFCO Grain Systems Export Administrator, reports that financing is available through SCAFCO Grain Systems for qualified buyers in participating countries around the world. The financing programs are categorized as short term which is up to 360 days and medium term which is up to five years. “There are certain limitations,” Herminio advises, “but SCAFCO stands ready to streamline the application process for the most favorable outcome.” For more information and application, please contact info@SCAFCOgrain.com.
During a recent visit to the factory, SCAFCO Grain Systems’ Regional Sales Manager, Dutta, saw and felt, first hand and by hand, just how seriously SCAFCO takes seismic design criteria. In the photograph, Dutta lifts the welded and hot dipped galvanized base of a SCAFCO flat bottom silo stiffener column to demonstrate for the camera just how heavy it can be with proper seismic design for a big silo. “And it is not just the heavy SCAFCO supplied steel”, Dutta points out. “SCAFCO engineering also provides customers with design criteria to help assure that contractors install the proper foundation for local earthquake conditions”.
The structure shown in the photograph is a partially assembled hot dipped galvanized steel SCAFCO hopper bottom silo support structure. “With the incidence of earthquakes in my Southeast Asia territory, SCAFCO dealers are confident in representing a supplier whose engineering standards are so high”, Dutta adds.
SCAFCO frac sand storage streamlines the process of handling hydraulic fracturing sand. SCAFCO storage bins and conveying systems feature an advanced, custom-engineered design that allows for clean, dry frac sand to be loaded onto rail or truck at up to 1,000 tons per hour. Here is a recent frac sand installation in Texas.
Regan Heaton, SCAFCO Grain Systems Sales Manager, USA/Canada, reported on this installation of specially engineered SCAFCO Grain Systems paddy rice storage bins. “To get this sale, we were asked if SCAFCO Grain Systems Engineering could meet special engineering requirements relating to seismic concerns, sealing for fumigation, and special higher clearance hoppers.” SCAFCO engineering could and did. “And we won the order,” Regan adds.
SCAFCO Grain Systems provided a small SCAFCO grain bin to Kansas State University for a research project. The research involved sealing steel bins to make them air-tight against insect infestation, in order to fumigate the grain. The researchers attempted to seal the bin completely by applying a lot of sealant. The bin would not hold the half atmosphere for the period required by the Australian standard, which was the goal. But it did hold the pressure better than the Australian counterpart, which was constructed to be a sealed bin. Research into sealed bins is ongoing at K State.
Three storage bins are nearing completion in Paraguay, each 32 m (105′) in diameter and over 29.5 m (97′) tall. The bins are the largest of their kind in the country, and each bin holds approximately 15,500 MT (560,000 bushels). The bins are engineered and manufactured in Spokane, Washington State, USA.
The O. H. Kruse Feed Technology Innovation Center received a donation recently from SCAFCO Grain Systems. Read the story from the current K-State Foundation’s magazine.
We are happy to announce that construction is complete on the division headquarters, after several months of work on the SCAFCO Grain Systems manufacturing plant and office building.
In late June, SCAFCO Grain Systems employees moved back to the improved offices at 5400 E Broadway Avenue. During the expansion, office employees worked off-site from the former SCAFCO Steel Stud office while shop employees worked around construction crews.
The newly expanded manufacturing plant and office building has nearly doubled the area that SCAFCO Grain Systems has to operate, which will help us to perform more efficiently and meet our customers’ needs better. Furthermore, the expanded office will accommodate the additional space required for our growing staff.
SCAFCO Grain Systems recently recognized the company’s top performing dealers for the year 2013. The recognition went to the dealerships that demonstrated exceptional customer service and exceeded sales projections for the year.
While it would be SCAFCO’s desire to have a relationship with each customer, time, volume and distances around the world preclude this. However, SCAFCO dealers do a fantastic job of representing SCAFCO Grain Systems through providing support, education and services to the end-users. SCAFCO Grain Systems dealers play a pivotal role in delivering SCAFCO Grain Systems products along with their services to customers.
Overall, SCAFCO recognized dealers with Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Awards for going above and beyond expectations. SCAFCO Grain Systems has exceptional standards for products and service, and believes that customers should receive comprehensive product application information when they make a purchase. SCAFCO dealers, in fulfilling this role, are selected and recognized for their superior standards, focus on education, and outstanding customer service.
SCAFCO Corporation has hired Jim McDonald as the new CEO of the SCAFCO Grain Systems division.
Mr. McDonald brings a wealth of both domestic and international management experience to SCAFCO Grain Systems. Prior to joining SCAFCO, Jim led an international organization with several sales and manufacturing operations in the USA and Europe. While there, McDonald implemented programs that led to increased sales, and greatly improved operational effectiveness.
Jim earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering as well as his Master of Business Administration from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, USA.
On April 28th, SCAFCO Corporation will celebrate its 60th year of operation. SCAFCO was established in Spokane, Washington in 1954 as a small business called Spokane Culvert and Fabricating Company, whose main product was corrugated steel culverts. In 1961, the company expanded to include manufacturing of grain storage systems and which became SCAFCO Grain Systems Company.
The original culvert product division was sold in 1986, and the company name was changed to SCAFCO. SCAFCO expanded again in 1994 to include the production of steel framing products, Spokane Steel Stud Company.
SCAFCO Corporation is still a privately owned company, directed by the son of the founder.
In the 53 years that SCAFCO Grain Systems Company has been operating, the product line has been developed to offer complete systems for grain storage and handling. This includes flat bottom and hopper bottom bins, aeration systems, material handling equipment, catwalks and towers. Beyond grain storage, SCAFCO also offers water storage and aggregate storage systems. With products installed in 83 countries, SCAFCO Corporation is proud of the growth that has been experienced in the past 60 years, and SCAFCO looks forward to continued relationships with current customers and the opportunity to work with new customers all over the world.
The University of California, Davis, recently built what is known as a self-sufficient model of a winery for their College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department. SCAFCO water tanks were provided at two of the Robert Mondavi Institute buildings. These are the Teaching and Research Winery and the Jess. S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building.
The Teaching and Research Winery consists of a 12,500-square-foot winery along with a large experimental fermentation area which is used for research and courses for professors. SCAFCO supplied this winery with four model 2105 water tanks with an approximate total storage capacity of 180,000 gallons (681,375 liters) of water.
SCAFCO water tanks were also supplied at the Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building. According to the UC Davis website, this building “contains the technology needed to maximize the environmental capabilities of the adjacent winery, brewery, and food-processing complex.” With the use of solar panels for energy, windows and skylights for natural lighting inside the building, rain water collection and water cleaning to reuse 90 percent of the water, this building is incredibly efficient and self-sustaining in water and energy requirements. “This makes the winery self-sustaining in energy and water and fully solar at peak load with a zero carbon footprint.”
In November 2012, site work began in McCoy, Washington State, USA, on a grain terminal facility featuring SCAFCO Grain Systems storage bins. SCAFCO supplied three model 7885ES flat bottom bins each with a capacity of 378,000-bushels/10,300 MT and three model 3616SHBT hopper bottom bins each with a capacity of 55,000-bushels/1500 MT. Total grain storage capacity is in the range of 1.4 million bushels/38,000 MT of wheat. After nearly 12 months since site work first began, the facility is now complete and receiving grain by truck and by rail.
With the ability to receive grain at 40,000 bushels/1000 MT per hour and ship grain at 60,000 bushels/1,600 MT per hour, the facility is able to load a 110 rail car shuttle train in under 9 hours.
The facility, which is owned by Cooperative Agricultural Producers, Inc. (Co-Ag) and Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative (PNW), will benefit local wheat farmers. According to the Spokesman-Review Newspaper (Spokane, Washington, USA), it is estimated that the McCoy project could generate more than US$72 million in transportation savings over the next 20 years, plus another US$14 million in reduced road damage and accidents, since the grain won’t have to be transported over highways by truck. The facility will help Washington State maintain its critical grain export business.
Recently, SCAFCO Grain Systems’ Vice President, Dan Wambeke, attended the International Association of Operative Millers’ annual IAOM Pacific, Intermountain, and Golden West Tri-District Meeting and Technical Conference as a key speaker. This year, the meeting was held in Park City, Utah. Dan was able to arrange his schedule to arrive directly from East Africa. where he had been calling on SCAFCO Grain Systems customers. Dan spoke to the group of milling professionals about avoiding catastrophes and preventing injuries in grain bins.
Only a few weeks later, Dan boarded an airplane once again. This time he flew to St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA, for Kansas State University’s and Minnesota Grain & Feed Association’s Combustible Grain Dust Workshop. The workshop provided information about dust control, how explosions start and what can be done to prevent them. The group engaged in an in-depth discussion about the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) specific grain handling and grain dust explosion standard. Included in the workshop was a demonstration of a grain dust explosion.
Recently, SCAFCO Grain Systems’ Regan Heaton was appointed to the Middle East/Africa Advisory Team by the U.S. Grains Council. Founded in 1960, The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non-profit corporation that develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, grain sorghum, and other related products. Currently, the council has nine international offices and programs in more than 50 countries.
The advisory teams are an important asset to the council and play an important part in developing the council’s priorities and strategies. Regan’s term with the Middle East/Africa Advisory Team will last for two years. During that term, Regan will participate in meetings which contribute to the development of Council programs for stimulating demand and preference for U.S. coarse grains imports into the Middle East/Africa area.
It’s nearing grain harvest time in many areas of the World, and SCAFCO would like to take this opportunity to remind those involved in grain storage to follow these safety tips:
- Make sure all safety decals provided by equipment manufacturers are in place and in good condition. If a decal becomes damaged or detached, contact your equipment dealer or their supplier for replacement decals.
- Grain stored inside a bin/bin can act like quicksand, causing you to sink into the grain mass and even suffocate. Never enter a storage bin/bin without shutting off and locking out electrical power to all grain handling machinery beforehand. Use a safety harness and safety line. Wear a dust respirator and avoid the center of the grain bin/bin. Station a person outside the bin/bin to help in case of an emergency.
- Load and unload grain only from the center of the bin/bin and maintain an even level of grain height around the walls of the bin/bin. Failure to follow this procedure could result in structural failure of the bin/bin from unbalanced forces acting on the bin/bin walls. Structural failure could cause injury or death to persons close to the point of failure.
- Keep children and unauthorized persons away from your grain storage facility.
- Make sure that all personnel working on or around this equipment are made aware of the hazards and are given these safety precautions.
The operators of grain storage facilities should review these and other safety tips with all employees on a regular basis, and make sure safety tips are posted for continual review and awareness.
Recently, Kansas State University invited donors and vendors to visit the site of the new O.H. Kruse Technology Innovation Center. Over a period of four days, supplier representatives were called in to monitor the performance of the equipment that they had supplied.
SCAFCO Grain Systems made an important donation of grain storage bins and grain handling equipment to the facility. The feed mill will be part of the Feed Science and Management program at KSU. The equipment will support programs at both the Animal Science and Grain Science departments and the storage bins donated by SCAFCO will serve both for ingredient storage and for conducting large-scale grain storage quality preservation research.
In response to the KSU invitation, SCAFCO sent a sales manager and an engineering manager to commission the hopper bottom bins, chain conveyors, bucket elevators, catwalks and accessories. The SCAFCO team verified proper assembly and functioning of the bins and equipment. The SCAFCO equipment supplied to the O.H. Kruse Technology Innovation Center is now ready to be put into service.
KSU has planned a ribbon-cutting ceremony for October 11th where stakeholders, donors, vendors, and the public will be invited to visit the site and see the new center in operation.
SCAFCO roofs were originally designed to be used on grain bins, but some customers have found that they can work really well on other cylindrical structures. SCAFCO’s one piece, deep-rib roof panels provide outstanding load-carrying characteristics, which make them ideal for locations with heavy snow and ice loads and other extreme weather conditions. The roofs have a weather-tight closure and either 24 or 36 roof panels depending upon the diameter.
These roofs are easily adapted to fit on most cylindrical structures with a roof starter ring, which is a very short wall section that roof panels are bolted onto. The starter ring can slip inside or be placed over the edge of cylindrical structures. SCAFCO roofs have been used alone for capping concrete cylinders and to make gazebo and yurt roofs.
Recently, SCAFCO Grain Systems supplied equipment for the largest modern grain storage facility in the Ural Federal District in the Russian Federation. The project has a total grain storage capacity of about 50,000 tons, or about 1,650,000 bushels.
SCAFCO manufactured the grain bins, catwalks, bucket elevators, chain conveyors, and towers used on the project, and supplied the grain dryer and grain cleaner.
This grain storage facility is unique because it is the first modern facility of its size in the region. In celebration of the new grain storage facility, the local Governor has placed a time-capsule in the grain bin foundation. The time-capsule has a message to future generations and will be removed from the foundation in one hundred years.
Locally, there was so much enthusiasm and pride about the project that a local news team visited the site while construction was still underway. Interviews, which were later broadcast on television, were conducted with local officials who were visiting the site.
With help from SCAFCO Grain Systems, an Oregon State, USA, hospital is saving on their energy costs.
To meet the state’s requirement of having two sources of energy for heating, the hospital replaced one of their crude oil fired boilers with an economical wood pellet fueled boiler. The pellets that feed the boiler are stored in a SCAFCO Grain Systems hopper bottom bin.
Since the installation of this environment friendly upgrade, the 50,000 square-foot hospital’s heating costs have been cut by two thirds.
At SCAFCO, nothing is more important than safety. SCAFCO’s Vice President, Dan Wambeke, has been deeply involved in the development of a safety standard for the entry of grain bins for the past 4-5 years, and his hard work is about to pay off.
Wambeke is the chairman of an informal organization called the Grain Bin Manufacturers Council. This group of manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada have come together to address issues in the industry. The Council recognized the need for an industry safety standard, and they have been involved in the development of this standard ever since.
Currently, it is required that someone entering a grain bin must be wearing a harness and be accompanied by another person to hold the safety line. The new standard will require manufacturers to include anchorage points near the inspection hatch to which safety equipment can be attached. Proper use of such equipment would reduce the risk of a user falling through crusted grain or being pulled into flowing grain if other safety instructions were not followed.
The standard will also encourage the use of walk-in-doors on commercial size bins, set a minimum size for roof hatches and access doors, and address specifications for work platforms, extrication devices, operational procedures, and safety signs.
This standard, in large part, is due to the efforts of Wayne Bauer, a pioneer in grain entrapment prevention education, and the Director of Safety & Security at the Star of the West Milling Company. Bauer has been promoting higher grain bin entry standards for years through the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS). In 2011, Bauer initiated a Grain Entrapment Prevention Forum. The forum has become an annual event, and between events Bauer travels to grain bin manufacturing plants to teach about how to prevent grain entrapment. SCAFCO’s Dan Wambeke has participated, giving seminars at this 3-day event. Both Wambeke and Bauer, along with many others involved, used this forum as an informal meeting place to draft the new safety standard. Next year’s Grain Entrapment Prevention Forum is taking place on March 12-14, 2013, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Standard was submitted to the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). ASABE is an educational and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems. Through ASABE, agricultural, food, and biological engineers develop efficient and environmentally sensitive methods of procuring food, fiber, timber, and renewable energy sources for an ever-increasing world population. Dan Wambeke has been a member of ASABE for 43 years, and he has served on both the ASABE Board of Directors and the Foundation Board. He is currently on the Standards Committee.
Now that the standard is endorsed by ASABE, it is expected to be finalized by the summer of 2013. The draft will be validated by a group of educational experts, government officials, manufacturing companies, and farmers. The expectation is that this will become a nationally-recognized standard that all grain bin manufacturers will be obligated to follow. Wambeke is excited about the impact this standard will have in the agricultural community, and once the standard is formally adopted by the industry, he will lead its implementation at SCAFCO Grain Systems.
To learn more about ASABE and this new standard, please visit the ASABE website, www.asabe.org.
To learn more about Wayne Bauer’s Grain Entrapment Prevention training and to see presentations from last year’s conference, please visit www.grainentrapmentprevention.com.
The December 2012 edition of World Grain Magazine, which features a SCAFCO Grain Systems ad on the back cover, contains a feature article titled Worth The Wait, about Kansas State University’s new teaching feed mill nearing completion. SCAFCO Grain Systems donated corrugated steel grain bins and hopper-bottom bins to KSU to be used in their new feed mill.
“In addition to the processing operations, the mill will also contain corrugated grain bins for ingredient storage and for conducting large-scale grain storage and quality preservation research. All hopper-bottom steel bins are being donated by SCAFCO of Spokane, Washington, U.S.”
You can read the full article online here.
As of this date, you can view a live webcam of the construction of the SCAFCO Grain Systems bins at the new KSU Feed Mill here.
A yurt is a portable, bent-wood framed structure traditionally used by nomad herders in the steppes of Central Asia as a portable home. It is a highly efficient design that was originally conceived to maximize strength while minimizing the use of materials. Yurts were originally built utilizing felted matting over a stick latticework for the walls and roof. Fabric eventually replaced the matting and milled lumber replaced the sticks. More recently, with the desire for a more substantial round dwelling, conventional building materials started to be used for the entire structure in “hard shell,” wood-sided yurts. In advanced economies, yurts appeal to those interested in novelty as well as efficiency and cost. Fabric yurts are finding popularity as campsite enclosures and as temporary dwellings, while wood-sided yurts act as more permanent living spaces.
Although SCAFCO Grain Systems’ market focus is on complete grain storage systems, SCAFCO has found a place in the world of yurts. It turns out that some suppliers of yurts have discovered that a SCAFCO bin/bin roof serves very well as the roof system for their version of a yurt.
Smiling Woods Yurts is a company in Washington State, USA, that manufactures wood-sided yurt kits. They have been using SCAFCO’s roofing systems as a key component in their yurts for a number of years, and have worked with SCAFCO perfecting a roof system that incorporates a central dome skylight.
Another company that has used SCAFCO Grain Systems’ roofs as a part of their product is Clean Air Yurts and Woodworks. They recently reported that SCAFCO’s products are working well and the customers are very happy with the results.
SCAFCO Grain Systems has been serving the agricultural industry for over 50 years and is honored that suppliers of yurts are integrating SCAFCO Grain Systems’ bins/bin roofs into their product lines.