Miller Magazine Issue: 119 November 2019

51 COVER STORY MILLER / NOVEMBER 2019 ing consistent quality and keeping prices com- petitive. CHANGING MARKETS FOR RAW MATERIALS Our customers also report changes on the side of their suppliers. International grain markets have significantly changed in the past 20 years. Up until recently, there were central export or- ganizations to ensure standardized and clearly defined product qualities in the countries that export grain. However, recently, the supply chain on the grain market has become very fragment- ed. This has an advantage for individual millers in that it allows their needs for grains to be freely covered on a large market. But, the reverse side to this is that there are many different qualities of grain to deal with. If a miller wants to provide consistent flour quality as years go by, he needs to purchase cleverly and mix various raw mate- rials together. Flour made from the same batch of grain is almost only possible for regional flour specifications or organic products. In addition, there is a global overcapacity of 30- 40% in the milling industry, which puts pressure on price competitiveness. Of course, this over- capacity often means mills ‘in the wrong place’ and/or in poor condition. This explains why de- mand for new mills is holding steady. MONITORING PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS These changes and trends in the milling in- dustry have a direct effect on planning and con- structing new mills. To manufacture flours with consistent quality from varying raw materials - in addition to the quality of the plant components - a permanent monitoring of processes and prod- ucts is essential. A growing number of sensors and software are assisting or even replacing manual control by the miller and help to guarantee as well as verify permanent quality. Traceability for every single processing unit all the way back to the wheat field is possi- ble in modern mills. The changed cus- tomer demands encountered by flour mills also entails additional plants for the storage of diverse flours and the blending needed for the desired prod- ucts. Ultimately, it is lawmakers at all levels that ensure higher requirements for sanitation and food safety. BUILDING MILLS IS STILL AN ADVENTURE The challenges in building a new mill have also changed recently. The big- gest obstacle is not the actual plan- ning of the mill. It is dealing with local and national officials that can lead to complications and/or delays in the permitting process for new plants. Al- though it is the customer’s responsi- bility to obtain the permits, Bühler is directly involved in the process as the project manager and as a supplier of the necessary equipment. NIR systems can do (almost) anything: online measurement in grain, flour and semolina open up new possibilities for millers.