In the late 1970’s, Mideco was awarded the contract to build a dust collector for KBB Malting, a joint venture between Kirin (breweries, Japan) and Barrett Burston (Malting, Victoria Australia) in Welshpool, Western Australia. The project was a rail car unloading facility receiving barley. A construction company had engineered the project and gone to the market with specific air flow design criteria for the dust collector. When the first rail car was unloaded dust went everywhere and it was clear the dust collector was completely overwhelmed and failed to make any effect on the fugitive dust. Dust filled the air and covered everyone, including the dignitaries who were present.
Initially, Mideco’s equipment was blamed for the failure. The General Manager of KBB, Jonathon Burston and their Chief Engineer – Bob Henley, knew they had a problem and it had to be dealt with quickly, or blame could be assigned later. They set to work on something that could be implemented in a very short time. The idea struck while looking at the swivel top desk bin at Jonathon’s office. Bob put the swivel tops on top of each other to allow the lower ones to swivel into the space created by those on top, telling Jonathon that once the grain fell onto a single swivel top it would load both sides equally and not move nor allow the grain to fall through.
The two had come up with an idea to “seal” the top of the hopper, thus it would require less air to manage the dust. Mideco’s General Manager – Stanley White (Stan), got to site as quickly as he could, but it took a couple of weeks. By the time Jonathon, Bob and Stan met, the baffles were installed. While Stan’s first order of business was to prove the dust collectors were performing to specification, which he did; Stan immediately saw and recognised a game changing concept. He asked Jonathon if Mideco could have the rights to manufacture and distribute worldwide, in return for a royalty on all baffles sold. Not only did Jonathon agree but asked Stan to write the agreement.
Stan worked out how to modularise the concept and thus be able to manufacture and take it to the market. Burnley Baffles were born, the name was Stan’s idea bringing together a combination of the first two men’s names, Bur & Nley. Specifically recognising Bob, an employee without whom the idea would not have existed.
Stan wrote the agreement on behalf of KBB and Mideco, inclusive of who would own the patents and it was signed before Stan left Perth on that visit. On Stan’s return to Melbourne, he modified some of the constraints to make them variable and went about patenting them as far and wide as possible.
In the years that followed, the patents were successfully prosecuted around the world. KBB sold out to Vic breweries, then run by John Elliot who used two Queen’s Counsels to try to break the agreement but could not, and in turn Mideco bought out the agreement which led to no royalties payable, ever. Since then, Mideco has sold Burnley® Baffles around the world and taken the original idea to develop a product range with models specific to different material specifications. Today, Burnley® Baffles are recognised globally as a go-to method of dust management in hoppers, and Mideco continues to provide them for projects despite of the location.