Product and Service Directory

Browse Companies  Browse Equipment

Company Profile
Brock Grain Systems

Brock Grain Systems • 866-658-4191http://www.brockgrain.com

FROM STORAGE AND STRUCTURES TO HANDLING AND CONDITIONING, BROCK HAS IT ALL.

Reprinted from Grain Journal July/August 2015 Issue

To the untrained eye, grain storage and handling equipment all looks the same, for the most part. But those who have spent decades in the industry know there’s a lot more to grain storage and handling equipment than what’s on the surface.

Milford, IN-based Brock Grain Systems has spent more than 50 years developing industry-leading, innovative grain storage, handling, conditioning, and structural solutions meeting or exceeding customer requirements.

“Paying close attention to customer and user wants and needs drives product concept development and equipment design,” explains Dave Dell, Brock’s global marketing and sales director. “Brock’s growth and success is built on bringing to market products and services that help customers achieve success in their operations.

“We pay a lot of attention to design quality and manufacturing quality, as well as customer service and support. We do this because we believe the key to making Brock strong and successful is through providing well-positioned products sold into the marketplace through a strong network of dealers who ensure quality delivery and aftersale support.”

Acquisitions

Brock Grain Systems was founded in 1957 by Howard Brembeck. The company built bulk feed bins and grain storage bins for the grain market under the name Brock Manufacturing in Milford, IN.

In 1976, Brock joined its sister company, Chore-Time Equipment, to form CTB Inc., a leading global designer, manufacturer, and marketer of agricultural systems and solutions.

In 1997, a landmark acquisition took place for Brock when CTB purchased the grain bin division of Butler Manufacturing, which had a long history in the grain business dating back to 1907.

Then, in 2000, CTB acquired ABC Industries’ grain handling equipment to add to Brock’s product line.

Soon after that, CTB’s acquisition of the Frankfort, IN-based Beard Industries’ grain dryers added to Brock’s expanding product line.

In 2012, CTB added one more piece to the puzzle by acquiring Martin Industries and its related LeMar and Riley brands. This move added the ability to design and manufacture components like towers, catwalks, bucket elevators, distributors, and temporary storage systems.

Through these various acquisitions, the company experienced significant growth as it expanded its portfolio of products that make up the core of Brock’s business with the grain industry.

“Today, we have four major segments of our grain business,” says Dell. “We have the storage business, which includes grain bins and products affiliated with grain bins. We also have a structures business, a handling business, and conditioning systems. Those are the portfolios of products that we go to market with around the world today.

“With the acquisitions over the years and development of new projects along the way,” he continues, “we offer the full line of products required to construct any type of grain handling and conditioning facility ranging from port facilities to country elevators, as well as simple farm bins for the local farmer.”

According to Dell, the majority of Brock’s business is located in the United States and Canada, but the company has bold plans to continue expanding its reach around the globe.

“In the next 10 years, we will continue to compete and do well in the United States and Canada, but we also will work very hard in all the major grain-producing areas around the world,” Dell notes. “And we’re doing that by developing new products and by recruiting and developing new dealers who can service various markets. Much of our growth – maybe even the majority of our growth – will come from international markets in the next 10 years.”

Quality, Service, and People

Brock’s decades of design and manufacturing experience ensures that Brock delivers on the promise “Exceeding Expectations,” as stated with the recent launch of the company’s Everest line of grain bins. The Everest grain bins offer customers exceptional built-in value over the life of the product. The company continues to innovate and improve on its products that give it a unique position in the market.

For example, Dell says, in 2013, the company launched the Everest series bins, which offer some of the tallest bins and highest grain-holding capacities available.

“With the launch of the Everest series bins, Brock now offers the most efficiently designed and manufactured grain bins in the market,” Dell explains. “The Everest series provides industry-leading combinations of diameter and height for the maximum efficiency of storage and land use.” c

Dell also notes that the Everest Series can support exceptionally high roof loads in terms of weight. This is critical in areas that see a lot of snowfall, for example, or in facilities where grain bins are connected, and the bins must carry the weight of conveyors and catwalks across their roofs.

“We engineered the mounting at the top of the roof for the catwalks with designs that we developed through the structures business. We combined the mount designs with the roof support designs, and that’s how we get the highest weight-carrying capacity in the industry,” Dell says.

Other flagship products from Brock include the Meyer tower dryers and SQ Series dryers, as well as the Brock Commercial Tower dryers commonly referred to as BCTs. “Those dryers certainly are leading in the industry as efficient high-capacity dryers,” Dell says. “It’s hard to talk about our company without referring to those.”

He adds that Brock gained the Riley and LeMar brand products when LeMar Industries was acquired. The tower, catwalk, and temporary storage products in the LeMar brand and the grain handling products, elevators, conveyors, drags, and accessories in the Riley brand complement the long term storage and conditioning products Brock has had in its portfolio for many years. The LeMar and Riley brands are well known and highly desired by customers who want efficiently-manufactured products that are easy to build in the field.

As is the case with any successful company, however, the products alone can’t make a company successful; they must be combined with quality service from dedicated people.

“The most important factor in the area of service and support is our network of dealers that we have around the world,” says Dell. “We rely heavily on our dealers providing local service and support for everything they sell. From our standpoint, having good strong, well-trained dealers is key to our success in the market.”

To that end, Dell says the company invests in annual product and service training for its dealers, so that they stay at the forefront of the market in terms of being able to compete, not only in selling products but also in service. “You need really good products, but without really good service, the products don’t usually stand on their own,” Dell points out.

In It for the Long Haul

In addition to its quality of products and dedicated staff, what helps make Brock Grain Systems successful and able to weather the volatility of the market is the backing it has from its parent company, CTB, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company.

“We have very strong backing and support from our owner, and that certainly provides for longevity and stability in all types of markets, both up and down. Whatever seems to be happening, we will be strong; we’ll be around for the long term.”


About Brock Grain Systems

Milford, IN
866-658-4191
http://www.brockgrain.com

View Company Profile →