MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — Fourteen milling executives learned about all aspects of milling during the Bühler-KSU Executive Milling course hosted by Kansas State University’s IGP Institute in conjunction with Bühler from June 8-12.

The course was co-led by Shawn Thiele, milling operations manager for the Department of Grain Science and Industry, and Carl Hahn, flour milling expert from the Bühler Training Center in Uzwil, Switzerland.

“The course is designed to educate milling executives and non-operation managers on all aspects of the milling process, which will help them to make better business and managerial decisions on a daily basis,” said Mark Fowler, IGP Institute associate director and milling specialist.

Participants dealt with course topics covering raw materials, cleaning systems, milling systems, finished product handling and storage, performance evaluation in a flour mill, and factors that influence an investment decision and basics in aspiration.

Also included in this course were hands-on exercises demonstrating the influences of wheat characteristics on yield and mill performance, special systems for mycotoxin reduction and top quality flour production, machine and flow sheet technology, system design and various tempering philosophies, among other topics.

Course participant Peter Banat, chief financial officer for the Bay State Milling Company, reflected on the course.

“Overall, I have a better understanding of the milling process and its day-to-day challenges as well as an understanding of each piece of milling equipment, what it’s used for, how it functions and trade-offs that can be made using one piece of equipment versus another piece of equipment,” Banat said.