Go harvest! Customers demand reliability from bulk grain conveyors —

What is the one thing a commercial grain operation can never reclaim?

The answer is time.

As September ends, farm combines across North America are well under way with corn and soybean harvest. But the truth is — around the globe — crops are being harvested all year long. And, for commercial operations, which process, ship and market those bulk grain commodities, time is everything.

Ag Growth International (AGI) knows this.

That is why AGI — based in Toronto, Canada, with manufacturing, engineering and customer service, sales and support operations worldwide — is focused on supplying the agriculture and food industry with high-quality, durable grain handling solutions that can swiftly and reliably move huge volumes of bulk grain commodities at high capacity — all day, every day.

“Today’s customers move grain 24/7. So, they demand dry bulk handling systems to convey grain with consistent and reliable performance. AGI’s enclosed belt conveyors are built for that purpose,” says Mike Hand, AGI Vice President, North America Commercial.

“AGI’s Hi Roller® and Hi Roller®HiLife® conveyors are workhorse products with a great design. While they have not undergone a major redesign, AGI makes small behind-the-scenes changes to enhance the user experience, improve durability or ease assembly for customers — things like increasing the robustness of welds and setting new standards of excellence for quality control. These slight changes add to the alreadyrobust reliability of our enclosed belt conveyors.”

A Legacy Of Reliability

Since 1982, AGI Hi Roller has been manufacturing commercial enclosed, dusttight and self-reloading conveyors, designed specifically for installation in grain handling facilities, soy and corn processing operations, and industrial operations. The conveyors eliminate explosive grain dust emission and minimize housekeeping and maintenance costs — issues prevalent in the industry.

AGI Hi Roller specializes exclusively in the design and application of enclosed belt conveyors, which contain dust and spilled materials and automatically reload that material back onto the belt’s carrying surface. With reduced dust emissions, isolated bearings and higher capacities, the AGI Hi Roller series deliver safety along with efficiency.

The AGI Hi Roller — with capacities v up to 3,800 metric tonnes per hour — is optimal for moving bulk products like grains, pulses and feeds that have low moisture levels or products that require gentle handling. The belt conveyor is totally enclosed, reducing the dust emissions typically found with open belt conveyors. Built with rubber flippers that attach to the tail pulley, they work to lift and direct spilt material against a stationary deflector that then reloads onto the carrying surface of the belt.

The AGI Hi Roller Hi Life — the v heaviest duty, highest capacity and longest life enclosed conveyor — is ideal for handling large capacities and continuous plant feed applications that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Resembling a conventional conveyor idler, the AGI Hi Life idler is much thicker, the bearings are much larger and there are no brackets or bearings exposed to the internal atmosphere of the conveyor housing. Hi Life is considered one of the industry’s best conveyor for gentle handling of bulk products.

With capacities up to 3,800 metric tonnes per hour, AGI Hi Roller conveyors are optimal for gently handling bulk products like grains, pulses and feeds (photo provided by AGI).

AGI’s Hi Roller series also offers the v Mini Roller and Lo Roller for smaller jobs.

“AGI’s bulk conveyors appeal to those customers who simply cannot afford any down time or interruptions. These include big grain traders and terminals in which efficiency and reliability are the expectations,” said Hand.

“While this is not a huge shift in the marketplace; we do see customers push for lower operational costs. So, increasingly, they are willing to invest in the right equipment to provide longevity, minimal maintenance, customer service, and return on investment.”

Serving Customers Worldwide

For more than 40 years, the contributing factors behind the success of AGI Hi Roller conveyors are consistent construction, quality control and a focus on customers.

“Simply put, we listen to the people who buy our products,” said Hand.

AGI Hi Roller conveyors have replaced open belts or chain conveyors worldwide, delivering higher capacities to existing facilities with their smaller trunking widths. From multi-million-dollar port terminals to feed, food and flour processing mills, AGI has custom-installed more than 10,000 conveyor systems in facilities around the world.

Setting Standards

While AGI Hi Roller conveyors serve as a standard-bearer with customers for efficiency, reliability and safety, AGI’s people-behind-the-product are, also, setting their own standards for manufacturing.

“Internally, one of the biggest things that we’ve worked on is partnering with AGI’s local and global engineering teams on design for manufacturability — that means improving design to allow for production efficiencies on the shop floor, reduced scrap, and better workflow,” said Len Homelvig, AGI Plant Manager. “We have also improved collaboration across teams, streamlined roles and responsibilities, expanded leadership and safety training, and improved overall output.”

AGI’s focus on productivity, responsiveness, timeliness, customer service, and attention to detail are factors that matter to customers.

"Over the previous year, we have made significant gains in productivity and efficiency,” said Homelvig. “Every day that we come to work, our goal is to deliver a quality product on time with exceptional customer service after the sale. Our ongoing challenge, however, is: how do we do that even more effectively?”

In the end, both Hand and Homelvig say that the AGI Hi-Roller’s mission is to help customers solve their greatest challenges.

Homelvig put it this way: "We are trying to help customers make better decisions by offering them information for an equipment solution that best meets their needs, while minimizing the cost and impact for everybody involved.”

About Agi

AGI is a major provider of equipment solutions for agriculture bulk commodities including seed, fertilizer, grain, feed, and food processing. With manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States, Brazil, India and Italy, these facilities and teams work to deliver the right combination of conveyors, storage, technology, and any other relevant equipment required for the project.