Miller Magazine Issue: 154 October 2022

66 COVER STORY MILLER / OCTOBER 2022 All scales monitoring the raw material into the mill, the screenings taken off in the screens room and pre-cleaning, all flour produced, bran and offal’s produced on the mill, must be accurate when compared with wheat brought in and product re- leased for dispatch. The road and rail weighbridges also need inspection and calibration annually. As stated already, the accuracy of stock reconciliation daily, weekly, and monthly, allows errors to be corrected easily, rather than once annually or even quarterly. Production reconciliation has to be completed by the head miller/ mill manager on a daily basis and all anomalies correct- ed on the same day. The methods of calculation have already been discussed. Another method of checking the accuracy of weighers is to cross-check all packing activities with mills and mixing and blending activities, to confirm that what was pro- duced, was actually packed. Modern-day mills have online reporting which one can view at any time. The introduction of online quality monitoring devices (NIR online) that help the miller monitor product quality at all times. Ensuring that all of the above work is carried out while you are on shift, whether you are the head miller or the mill manager or even the plant manager, will certainly ensure that your plant is efficient and productive. All downtime in the mills is to be uti- lized by carrying out any necessary running maintenance that has been identified. In some facilities, reconciliation per consignment of grain received at the mill is done. In this case, only small consign- ments purchased, whereas, in other facilities, larger quantities of grain purchased, making it difficult for this to reconcile. We, therefore, prefer to reconcile all flour and by-products pro- duced against the quantity of raw wheat received at the mill screens room. Together with all of the above, the mill must have a planned inspection and prioritized preventive maintenance program in place and all the relevant consumable spares available at all times. Planned maintenance when applied correctly will prevent breakdowns and lost time. Lost time is an unrecoverable cost to the company and loss of revenue. Only the team responsible for the efficient and productive operation of the facility can do this. Diligence, responsibility and commitment by all is truly necessary