RESULTS

• Improved inventory management
• Real time view of material build-up
• Increased production efficiency
• Improved delivery scheduling

APPLICATION

Volume measurement of grain, flour and solid additives.

CUSTOMER

Stybel, Israel

CHALLENGE

The Stybel group imports wheat and other grains for production of a wide range of milled products. The Stybel group operates five flour mills and two storage facilities throughout Israel, and in 2013 opened the largest flour mill in Israel, with the capacity to supply flour to 20% of the country’s population.

When planning the construction of the new mill, Stybel wanted to ensure efficient material supply and delivery throughout the entire production process. To do this, they required real time visibility to the amount of material in each bin. With solids, this is a measurement challenge for a number of reasons. The surface is uneven and changes as the silo is filled or emptied. It is often a dusty environment which can obstruct the measurement reading for many technologies. And lastly, some of the materials tend to build up and stick on walls which means that they occupy space but may not truly be available for production. All these parameters make it difficult to know how much material is in the bin and how much capacity is available for the addition of more material.

Not having good visibility to material supply can mean unexpected production loss due to lack of material, the risk of overfilling a silo due to inadequate capacity, and inefficiency in scheduling material deliveries.

SOLUTION

The new facility required inventory tracking abilities on all silos to support production control. After investigating the solids level solutions available on the market, Stybel selected the Rosemount 3D Solids Scanner as the inventory tracking solution for all 90 silos in the mill because the scanners proved to be reliable measurements for the dusty conditions and they could provide the desired data for the plant.

The 3D Solids Scanner allowed Stybel to have complete visibility to their solids materials inventory throughout the plant; from raw material supply, to processing and finished goods. It provided graphical detail of the exact material volume of each vessel as well as the numerical details for volume and level. It also showed them where material was building up on walls without needing to do a manual inspection. The scanners' data was integrated into a SCADA system allowing Stybel to use the information from the 3D Solids Scanners to manage inventory throughout the plant, from ordering raw materials, through tracking inventory in process to planning the shipping schedule.