Harnessing QR code technology for enhanced safety and maintenance

Steven Kilger - 00:00
Hello! My name Steven Kilger, I’m the managing Editor for Feed & Grain Magazine and the host of the Feed & Grain Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today as we dive deep into the issues affecting the feed manufacturing, grain handling and allied industries.

Today’s episode is brought to you by The BinWhip from Pneumat Systems. The powerful Dual Impact BinWhip removes the toughest buildup and blockages in industrial storage silos – without hazardous silo entry. Learn more today at binwhip.com.

Brett Buchanan, CFO of Bulk Conveyor Inc., talks with me about their implementation of QR code technology on equipment. For Instant access to comprehensive information, Streamlined maintenance procedures. Enhanced safety guidelines and Efficient spare parts management

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Now onto the show.

Hi Brett! Thanks so much for joining me today. I first wanted to have you on because I went to GEAPS Exchange back in, what was it, late February, early March? And you did a little tech talk there about how you guys were using this QR code technology. And I found it really interesting in part because before the pandemic, I thought QR codes dead. The pandemic really brought them back with a vengeance, didn't It did.

So now you get this situation where you were going through and everyone knew how to scan. You had us all scan a little QR code when we came in and everyone knew, which kind of blew my mind and made me think how much easier this technology is to use when it was first introduced. But can you explain to me a little bit about yourself and what you do with Bulk Conveyor Inc. Do you guys go by BCI? Do you prefer that?

Brett Buchanan - 01:59
BCI or bulk conveyors, it's whatever's easiest for the persons, we don't care either way.

Kilger - 02:04
Okay. Can you tell me a little bit about what you do there and then a little bit about kind of how you guys are using QR codes with your equipment?

Buchanan - 02:11
Yeah. So, we're bulk conveyors in Wichita, Kansas. We make heavy-duty HD chain conveyors and bucket elevators. All our equipment primarily goes into processing facilities that are running 24-7, 365. We basically saw a need for this QR technology. We’re seeing maintenance managers either retire people unfamiliar with positions or equipment and this platform basically gives our end customers encyclopedia of
that piece of equipment at their fingertips. So we did quite a few calls where people need spare parts or people need help on tensioning the chain within the chain conveyor and with one scan of this barcode or QR code, that end user will be able to see pretty much every single aspect of how that piece of equipment works, operates, maintenance, safety, stuff like that.

Kilger - 03:10
I mean, it sounds great because there's nothing really worse than having something need fixing on a piece of equipment or maintenance and then have to go find the manual go to a website and try to find the info or call you guys. So can you tell me a little bit more about the system itself? Because I believe it involves some kind of sticker you guys print out and put on the machine and then goes into some kind of portal?

Buchanan - 03:32
I think the hardest thing about it was just to find, again, our equipment, our one cadence, some pretty severe environments where that was one of the trickiest things is just finding a sticker that has a 10 to 15 year life on our equipment. So once we found that, we kind of built the platform to host information within the sticker for the piece of equipment. And like you said, to go back on the drawings, but end user doesn't want to have to go back to the office once they're 200 feet in the air, looking at a piece of machinery. We come across quite a few customers where they don't even know where the drawing is. So that's where we think it's a value add to the end user. They can use our equipment to its potential. Therefore, obviously their facility is going to run much more smoothly and their downtime is going to be minimized by them having the encyclopedia for that piece of equipment their fingertips.

Kilger - 04:33
Yeah, like you said, it seems like such a small thing, but it's got to save so much time because, I mean, how many pieces does a facility really have? And more than likely, they weren't all upgraded at the exact same time. So you might have slightly different models per a line that you're running and things like that. So it seems like makes the organization easier, right? For a maintenance specialist and all that.

Buchanan - 04:55
Yes, it makes the organization easier and it also confirms that you're ordering the right part. A lot of times we'll get people that aren't familiar with the piece of equipment and they'll You know, I think it's this sprocket or think the head shaft's this size where with every piece of our equipment, it'll show the bill of material where there's no gray area when you're ordering spare parts. So obviously it lists every single spare item within that piece of equipment. So technically you could take picture of the QR code and hit the bill of material and then simply hits our phone number and within three to four clicks in less than 45 seconds you can be ordering a spare card for any piece of art.

Kilger - 05:42
And is it just current equipment that you guys are putting out there? Or can people order stickers for older pieces of equipment that you guys have made?

Buchanan - 05:51
So a lot of our customers have seen the value and we came out with this a few years back. So obviously we have sold some equipment without this technology on it and we'll retrofit or send any of our current customers stickers for their existing equipment that basically was built before this came out.

Kilger - 06:10
I think even at the tech talk he gave, the guy immediately brought up because let's face it, feed mills, grain facilities, all that, they're not, they're not the nicest environment sometimes. So they can get beat pretty quick, but you can order replacement stickers pretty easily if something happens to the one on your piece of equipment too, right?

Buchanan - 06:29
Correct. And this is also something we do not charge for this. This is obviously we want to sell our customers conveyors and equipment and bucket elevators. But we just felt like this is a value add. The more successful our end users are, the more successful their operations are. And we don't charge for this. It's free of charge.

Buchanan - 06:48
And we just think it's kind of a value add that kind of separates our equipment from the others.

Kilger - 06:53
Yeah, I would say so. Definitely. Do you have any examples of how the QR platform has been utilized by customers? Anything that they've done that you weren't really expecting them to do with the technology?

Buchanan - 07:05
Well, I think the biggest, the overwhelming thing is just operations and safety. Seeing just the safety aspects of how to properly run it. We've also seen great success, as I was previously mentioning about the spare parts. There's nothing worse than getting a spare part and you're down and that spare part not being correct. So, we've had tremendous feedback on locations, especially with new maintenance managers or guys or gals switching locations. And just knowing that the three clicks or four clicks, you know, you're getting the right spare part. One thing that we weren't certain about, but we've actually, for one of larger milling companies that they use a safety log.

Buchanan - 07:49
So basically, say if you were to tension the chain on June 5th of 2023, they simply send us an email and we go on the back end of the barcode and basically keep a maintenance tracking sheet for that piece of equipment so when you go back there you can see exactly when the chain was tightened within that certain chain conveyor.

Kilger - 08:11
Yeah, the safety aspects are good point because I mean the repair aspects are really obvious like right you can go and see the exact part you need and order and all that but the logging and even the keeping of the safety information I'm imagining inside the encyclopedia so someone needs to look up how to properly run this machine they can do so just with a simple scan, right?

Buchanan - 08:32
Exactly. And it seems pretty low elementary, but just even having the ability to take a picture of the barcode and get our phone number, I guess with some of these, just having the ability to hit one button and talk to a real person that actually works for the company and not a call center has been a big value add to our customers.

Kilger - 08:51
Yeah, I'm sure it has, especially because when you're in that situation where you need to call the company, you're probably already in a pretty stress.

Buchanan - 08:58
Exactly. And it's people don't know what phone number to call. They don't know if this is the right company and so on. So just to have that basically assistance at your fingertips, it has been big help and that's the feedback we've received.

Kilger - 09:13
Well, yeah. And like you said, it must be really nice for new employees, which there are quite a bit. And even as employees get stretched thinner and thinner, you might not have a maintenance guy on site anymore. You might be roaming between multiple facilities. So just being able to have someone go in and scan, that's really, really cool.

Buchanan - 09:33
Another positive feedback is just the ability to have the drawing within to see it on your iPhone. So scan the QR code, have our drawing that has pretty much every aspect, chain speed, shaft size, everything else where the employee that isn't familiar with the piece of equipment can become real familiar with it within a few minutes by looking at the drawing.

Kilger - 09:56
It's a really innovative way to use technology that's out there to make our lives in the plant a lot easier. So, thank you so much for coming on and chatting about today. Do you have anything else you want to add, Brett? Anything that we need to cover?

Buchanan - 10:10
No, I think that's about it. They're more than welcome to give us a call. And like I said, this comes out on every piece of chain conveyor and bucket elevator. And yeah, feel like the very good value add and we get some of the best feedback and best ideas from our customers. So we're always continually listening to see how we can improve our equipment, our process, and just never settling for the status quo.

Kilger - 10:36
That sounds great. And I hope you keep us in mind as you guys come out with new stuff and have new innovations. I'd love to have you back on. Thank you so much for joining us and talking to everybody about what you have going on. I appreciate you having me on and hopefully you have a great week. Yeah, you too. Thanks everyone out there for listening.

Kilger - 10:52
Make sure you stay safe and we'll see you next time.