In an era where the rapid pace of digitalization intersects with the ancient and time-honored industry of grain storage, navigating the landscape requires a discerning mind that can bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. Adrian Badea, the founder of SiloApp, emerges as a voice of both experience and forward-thinking in this domain. Having his roots deep in the grain handling and storage sector, Badea has observed firsthand the challenges faced by professionals in the silo industry. His endeavor, SiloApp, seeks to address these very challenges by harnessing the power of digital tools to streamline and optimize the traditionally labor-intensive processes. In this comprehensive dialogue, we delve into the nuances of SiloApp, explore the shifting contours of the silo industry, and get a glimpse into the future as envisioned by Adrian Badea. While we often laud the fruits of innovation, it’s equally crucial to understand the fertile ground from which these ideas sprout and the visionaries who cultivate them. Join us as we engage in a captivating conversation with one such visionary.
Can you shed some light on the primary challenges faced by the silo industry that drove you to think about a solution like SiloApp?
I have been working for many years in the Grain Handling and Grain Storage Industry, in Sales or Leadership positions, and I had the opportunity to experience first-hand how the Sales & Quotation process goes. The whole process is exhausting for both the Sales Team and Customer. It implies a lot of back and forth travelling and visits to customers, several engineers to draft the technical solution and months are needed until the Seller and the Customer finally land on the same page in terms of solution and budget. Usually, the process is more or less “manually”, or let’s say offline. Conveying of information within the team is problematic and drafting the technical solution is done more or less manually, by always starting from zero. The whole process is costly and inefficient, leading to costs of thousands and tens of thousands of Euros only to prepare a quotation which, in more than 90% of the cases, will not become a customer order. We, at SiloApp, wondered if there is a way to automate the process in order to cut costs per quotation dramatically and reduce total working hours by providing a technical solution and budget on the spot, right in front of the customer. This way we managed to build a software able to automatically generate Silo Plants drafts, based on customer needs and industry standards within minutes. SiloApp reduces the cost/quotation with 90%, the carbon footprint and overall budget of the Sales Team dramatically.
What’s the broader vision or the core principle behind SiloApp? What change or improvement are you hoping to bring to the industry?
SiloApp aims to become the platform where farmers and professionals meet the equipment producers and exchange information mutually beneficial. We democratize the access to know-how, by embedding the industry standards in SiloApp’s smart design algorithms, thus allowing any user to be able to use the App without the risk of making mistakes. Professionals will be able to draft solutions and budgets from the first meeting with the customers, farmers will be able to design their Silo Plants by themselves and send comprehensive Inquiries, with 3D layouts, Flow Diagrams and List of equipment.
We believe in automation and efficiency, that’s why we do our best to help companies to use their most valuable resources, like time, money and know-how, more in the benefit of their customers. All stakeholders should be involved more in the Marketplace for the best return.
RECEIVING THE MARKET’S VERDICT
How has the reception been from users, both from the quotation requesters and the producers? What feedback have you received that you found particularly insightful?
Given the fact we adventured ourselves into uncharted territory, I would say most of the feedbacks were great so far. The people are really open to try new solutions to solve their everyday hustle. We’ve started this road firstly with the equipment producers in mind, to help their sales teams, but we discovered a very important segment of customers that is sometimes neglected, namely the independent Dealers. For them it’s even more difficult to cope with the struggle to create solutions and quotations, but now they have another option on the table to ease their work and provide a professional solution to their customers.
The silo industry, like many others, has seen technological advancements. How do you see SiloApp aligning with or furthering these advancements?
SiloApp is an important part of the digitalization of this industry sector. It is possible now to create technical solutions within minutes, instead of days, or weeks. Sales & Quotation phase is not our only target. The industry uses a lot of data from sensors to improve the efficiency of the storage and the quality of the grains. By creating a digital twin of the Plant we could run simulations of different processes in order to identify weak spots in the processing lines, or the customer can take actions related to preventive maintenance and so forth. The plant you are designing in the quotation phase of the project, is the base for the detailed engineering and will become the platform for operating the Silo Plant, visualizing all the information sensors convey, enabling the operator to take the best decisions related to maintenance and overall health and quality of the grains. When extension of the plant is required, the user will easily add on the existing one additional bins or other equipment to meet the needs of the end customer.
Transitioning to a digital platform can be challenging for some. How do you ensure that SiloApp remains user-friendly and accessible for everyone, regardless of their tech-savviness?
From the beginning our target was to create a simple solution, so anybody could use it, without special training. But it is true we all come from different backgrounds and “user-friendly” could mean different things for different people. Our solution is to create video tutorials for the users, in order to be easy to learn all steps and processes in the App. Moreover, the commands in the app are visual and similar to video games, this way we believe it is more comprehensible to a larger number of users. We also have an onboarding process for our users, comprising in live online presentations and direct communication lines.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND FUTURE FORECASTS
From your perspective, how has the silo industry changed over the years? And where do you see it heading in the next decade?
I think the general principles of grain storage are almost as old as our agrarian civilization. But once the technology advanced, we managed to apply new solutions in order to make grain storage more efficient, safe and to handle bigger quantity of goods. Growing demand for food with higher quality, in the context of land scarcity and yields at highest potential, forced grain logistics systems to reduce loses as much as possible. Food safety and food traceability are important topics addressed by the industry, in order to improve the quality of the grains for a more demanding marketplace for healthy and reliable products. A Silo Plant can be an unsafe place for workers if proper actions are not taken right from the drawing board. But there are many solutions to make operation a Silo Plans today safer than it ever was. In order to increase the farm productivity, make it a safer place, obtain a proper traceability and higher food safety we use today automation based on a sophisticated network of sensors that allows the farmers to take the best decisions to keep the grains healthy for maximized returns. I think in the near future there will be a further integration with software solutions able to make sense from all the data the sensors and complex algorithms are gathering. We are heading towards data driven actions, to maximize yields and optimize the output of the equipments.
Feedback is a critical component of growth. How does SiloApp integrate real-world feedback from its users to ensure that it’s meeting the industry’s needs?
We have a group of experts from this industry that help us a lot with their feedback in using the App. Based on it, we are able to create new features in order to respond to the industry’s needs. Moreover, we are organizing online product showcases, where potential customers can see the product and provide a real time feedback. We are open to any suggestion the customers can make, s the product is build to solve their problems and without their input we wouldn’t be able to do just that. This is one of the reasons why we create also customized solutions for our customers and we’ve made SiloApp available as White Label as well.
Can you share the long-term vision or goals for SiloApp in terms of its role in the industry?
Digitalization has become mandatory for all of us, if we are planning to remain relevant in the Marketplace. Grain logistics is not different than other industries, it has to respond to the market needs and digitalization of different processes it will make a big difference in front of the customers. SiloApp is able to already provide standard solutions to its customers, or to build together with them customized software to solve their challenges.
For someone new entering the silo industry, what advice would you give them based on your experience and insights gathered through SiloApp?
I have experience both in sales process and leadership and software solutions for grain storage industry. Even though industrial equipment and software work together towards the same goal, they are very different businesses. I would say for both fields Networking is very important. My advice would be to network as much as possible. It’s an industry where relationships and trust you build with customers and peers alike matters. And afterwards be flexible when finding solutions for the customer’s problems.
