Miller Magazine Issue: 152 August 2022

57 MILLER / AUGUST 2022 NEWS The building, which is a place with a great tradition of innova- tion, will be partly demolished and rebuilt, and partly renovated. “Most of the machines developed in the milling sector over the past 70 years have been at least partially tested here in the app- lication center,” says Stefan Birrer, Head of Business Area Mil- ling Solutions. “Among them are absolute success stories such as the Airtronic roller mill (MDDK), the first friction-locked roller package that made it possible to greatly reduce the number of roller mills in a mill, or the first double roller mill (MDDL) that had a decisive influence on mill design in terms of diagram layout and space requirements.” ENORMOUS BOOST FOR INNOVATIVE MILLING Today, the Application & Training Center no longer meets the requirements for a future-oriented and safe environment for Bühler’s customers or for the company’s own trials and deve- lopments. For this reason, Bühler is building a completely new infrastructure on the site of the present Application & Training Center, which will give an enormous boost to research and de- velopment in the field of milling. Here, work will also be done on how to merge the machines and process steps with the digital revolution. Like its predecessor, the building will be a haven of innovation. “All new developments will come from the new Grain Innovation Center. Bühler will continue to keep this important part of its research in Uzwil,” says Peter Striegl, Head of Innova- tion Milling Solutions. But what can customers expect here? The new application building offers, among other things, a fully integrated cleaning and milling process for all grain types, a complete feed milling process for all types of compound feeds, and a research and development department. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF THE FUTURE The all-important training and education are also taken care of: the necessary machinery, processes, and state-of-the-art teaching infrastructure are an important part of the project. Vi- sitors reach the new small laboratory and workshop via a wal- kway. The tour also leads through the Milling Academy, where large windows provide a fascinating glimpse into the work going on in the adjacent application centers. In order to take advantage of synergies, the training center will be integrated into the existing ecosystem with all existing Application & Training centers, the CUBIC, the new Bühler Energy Center, and the Protein Application Center announced at the Networking Days. The training center naturally also offers customers new ways of learning, such as keyword hyb- rid learning, which combines on-site visits and online learning. Customers will be able to choose how many people they want to send to the center in person and how they want the learning and training to be delivered. The Milling Academy will also de- velop a new curriculum, explore innovative and new ways of learning, and work much more closely with the African Milling School and all other academies at Bühler. All of this continues the tradition that has served Bühler well for decades - because from collaboration comes innovation that will drive the busi- ness for the next 70 years. Stefan Birrer, Head of Milling Solutions Bühler Group Peter Striegl, Head of Innovation Milling Solutions, Bühler Group Rudolf Hofer, Head of Grain Innovation Center