INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- Pet owners' rising human-grade expectations are pushing manufacturers toward greater transparency, precision and supply chain visibility
- Many operations still rely on manual checks and reactive planning — creating inefficiencies BinSentry's real-time bin monitoring technology is designed to solve
- BinSentry's Sense HD platform delivers live inventory data, aligns procurement and production, improves safety by eliminating bin climbs and detects issues like bin hangs before they cause downtime
- The next five to 10 years will belong to companies that can anticipate problems rather than react to them — built on a foundation of accurate, real-world data
Interview with Tim Karl, vice president - milling, BinSentry
Petfood Forum Chat: This is a special report from Petfood Forum 2026.
I'm Jackie Roembke, editor-in-chief of Watt Global Media's Feedbrands, and I'm the guest host of Petfood Forum Chats.
I sat down with industry leaders and innovators to get their take on the trends shaping the global pet food industry.
From ingredients and processing to sustainability and the future of pet nutrition, take a minute to listen in on those conversations.
Tim Karl, vice president - milling, BinSentry: I'm Tim Karl. I'm the vice president of milling for BinSentry. We're a company located in Kitchener, Ontario. I came on board actually last November, spent three decades in animal nutrition and feed manufacturing so I was able to bring that experience forward. I worked for Cargill for 22 years, and I also worked for Alltech for five years, and then decided to take that experience into an exciting new venture on the software and technology side.
Petfood Forum Chat: What do you think are the most important industry or consumer trends right now, and why?
Karl: So from a trend standpoint, this one is personal to me, we are big pet people. My wife and I have five dogs, three cats. We have a horse and 20 laying hens in our backyard. So what goes into pet food is very important to us and we care a lot about it. The trend I'm seeing as a total. A shift towards human grade expectations, way more transparency and consistency while at the same time the manufacturing process is getting complex, but a lot of supply chains are still very reactive.
On top of that, the manufacturers are tight on capacity space and bin space. And they're not adding new capacity as fast as the new ingredients that are coming in on the human side into formulation. So that combination is putting real pressure on operations to be more precise, more visible, and ultimately move from a reactive to a proactive process.
Petfood Forum Chat: Please share any new technologies or innovations that have stood out to you either here at Petfood Forum or elsewhere.
Karl: Yeah. The biggest thing that stands out to me is real time visibility inside the plant, which has been a blind spot. A lot of operations are still relying on manual checks or outdated data, and that's where inefficiencies and risk live. The technologies gaining traction are the ones bringing accurate, real time data into those environments so teams can make decisions with confidence. So I'm seeing a ton of that visibility stuff here on the show floor.
Petfood Forum Chat: How does BinSentry address these challenges?
Karl: Yeah, so I talked about that visibility being very manual. We at BinSentry do solve that problem from blind spots knowing exactly what's in your bin in real time without manual intervention. In pet food when you're dealing with a wide range of ingredients, some high volume, some very low inclusion, but critical you can't afford to run out unexpectedly or rely on past estimates.
What our technology helps with our Sense HD platform does is it creates a true demand signal inside the plant. Instead of reacting to surprises, teams can plan with confidence. Procurement, production and logistics are all aligned around accurate real-time data. It also eliminates the need for bin climbs, which is a major safety improvement and helps detect issues like bin hangs early.
Before they turn into downtime or a major product loss. So we really sit at the intersection of efficiency, safety, and supply chain precision, which are all becoming non-negotiables in the industry.
Petfood Forum Chat: And let's talk about the future. Where do you see the industry heading in the next five to 10 years?
Karl: Yeah, I think the industry is moving towards a fully connected, data-driven supply chain. The companies that win will be the ones that can anticipate issues. Instead of reacting to them, AI and automation will play a role, but only if they're built on accurate real world data. That's the foundation everything else depends on.
Petfood Forum Chat: Any final thoughts, things that we may not have touched on?
Karl: No, we are exploring this opportunity here in the pet food manufacturing sector. We do a lot of work on the feed mill side with feed mills all across North America and believe that the same challenges they face are the same ones the pet manufacturers have: reactive supply chains not being able to get in front of planning and we're able to help assist with that.
Petfood Forum Chat: The 2026 edition of Pet Food Forum was held April 26th through 28th in Kansas City, Missouri. For more Petfood Forum news and in-depth event coverage, please visit petfoodindustry.com.
