Miller Magazine Issue: 147 March 2022

92 COVER STORY MILLER / march 2022 rithms. Mill laboratory staff face difficulties at a new crop. Comparison of new crop data with previous years is beneficial in understanding differences between crops. Another good exercise to show new crop wheat differ- ences is to test the flours of each stream. The corporation mills blend various types of wheat to produce flours with distinct and consistent quality and to ensure a smooth transition from old to new crop wheat especially for high throughput facilities because chang- es are magnified at high-capacity customer processes. Faults in raw materials and milling picked up in the lab- oratory can be corrected by blending a substandard flour with over better ones. Laboratory staff decide which prod- ucts and the blending ratios should be mixed to minimize potential customer complaints. The AI laboratory systems have a superior capability to trace trou- ble through each step of the milling process and help to meet customers’ requirements. These systems should be supported with deep learning algorithms that solve linear programming and oper- ations research problems to determine the least cost formulation of wheat and flours blending. Statistical information can also be used to control the financial results of increased or decreased quality. Obviously, web-based systems sup- port the disciplines of Good Manufactur- ing Practice, Total Quality Management and certification for ISO 9000. Accord- ing to GMP, TQM or ISO the mill labo- ratory is tasked with setting hygiene instructions, as well as monitoring and, auditing hygiene throughout the mill. The accuracy and consistency of test- ing results is very important. Regardless of the advanced the instruments of any laboratory are, it is not possible to obtain consistently reliable results without periodic maintenance and cali- bration according to the supplier's recommendation. To get the best performance from the laboratory should be accredited. “ISO 17025 enables laboratories to demon- strate that they operate competently and generate valid results, thereby promoting confidence in their work both nationally and around the world”. In accredited laborato- ries, validation analyzes are carried out. It can be difficult to obtain ISO 17025 certification for laboratory mill, so to verify laboratory results it should qualify repeatability and reproducibility of laboratory tests every 3 months. In addition to that, it is useful to have one or more indepen- dent, outside laboratory, perhaps as the principal labora- tory. If the laboratory could not obtain an accurate result, it will face a misunderstanding of customers' complaint. Prof. Dr. Farhan Alfin is an Independent Consultant for production and quality control at wheat flour mills. He obtained his Ph.D. from Ege University in Izmir, Turley, from the department of food engineering in 2000. He worked at Avrasya University (Trabzon – Turkey) from 2015 to 2019 and hold the position of head of the food engineering department. He worked at Albaath University in Homs City, Syria at the food engineering department from 2000 to 2015, and he held the position of head of the department from 2006 to 2010. During that period, he offered his consul- tancy and education services to several flour mills in Syria. On another level, he worked as the executive manager of Alakhras Mill in Homs from 2009 to 2015. He is also the author of “Cereal Milling Technology” book written in Arabic language. www.alfin.info.tr About the author