Miller Magazine Issue: 153 September 2022

79 COVER STORY MILLER / SEPTEMBER 2022 Customers voices rice processors and their operator teams have the know- how to manage this paradigm shift the industry is going through. To help facilitate this the academy is well equipped with world-class trainers, with more than 150 years of cumula- tive experience in the rice processing industry. The course modules cover the entire end-to-end rice milling process – from intake, pre-cleaning, drying and storage through to cleaning, hulling, whitening and sorting – while additional modules such as by-product processing, rice quality mea- surement and food safety enhance the core learning. The academy is also entering partnerships with trainers outside the rice milling industry, who can bring their exper- tise to topics that are still new to the sector. Such a wide range of knowledge means that participants can learn ev- erything from the guiding processing principles to the mi- nutest of machine part details, all of which will ultimately help to make the rice mill more profitable and sustainable. Education for all. Anytime. Anywhere. While the rice processing industry is evolving rapidly, so of course is the education industry. The COVID-19 pandem- ic and ever-changing customer requirements have led to an explosion in online education that has increased accessibil- ity to quality teaching, while also making it more economical for learners. Online modules also allow participants to learn at their own pace and around their existing commitments, while the growing number of courses in regional languages has dramatically increased their global reach. In line with this changing educational landscape, the International Rice Milling Academy is also launching online options in addition to its on-campus courses, while the next step on this excit- ing journey is to expand through satellite centres worldwide to make quality education available to all. Benjamin Adukwu, LifeCare Ventures Ltd., Nigeria : "Without having previous experience in rice milling, this course gave me the confidence to establish a new plant in Nigeria." Mahesh Kumar, Mill Operator, Savithri Group, India: "The course focusses on future advancements like auto- mation, which will enhance the present traditional process. This will prove extremely useful in the future." Vivekanand Jha, Plant Supervisor, Arjun Mill, Nepal: "More than learning about a rice mill and its day-to-day operations, I learnt about how we could judge the quality of the product, which is critical for millers. Group discus- sions with other participants who came from diverse back- grounds were very beneficial to me."