KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — An increasingly competitive market means flour millers must find every advantage to defend their positions and make the best product, in the most efficient manner possible.

For some, that may mean a focus on reducing energy consumption, while for others it may mean having as little downtime as possible, said Uzwil, Switzerland-based Bühler. Equipment suppliers surveyed by World Grain said they are working to meet the needs and requests of customers, whatever that may mean. 

“With rising energy and commodity prices, overall efficiency is top of mind for millers,” said Appenzell, Switzerland-based SWISCA. “We address this directly by designing key equipment that slashes energy consumption, simplifies cleaning and maintenance, and integrates seamlessly with high levels of automation. Our focus is clear: simplify, optimize and automate to keep entire milling plants running smoothly efficiently and reliably.”

One of the greatest challenges facing the milling industry is staffing. Less people want to work in a mill or have the know-how to operate mills at a high efficiency, Bühler said. In addition, more regulations are being placed on milling operations. 

“Our goal is to be there for the industry so that they are able to deal with these regulations in an easy way,” Bühler said. “In addition, we want to provide solutions that help our customers to still run at a high efficiency with outcome-oriented process solutions.”

In general, suppliers said they see slightly more demand for upgrades/retrofits versus greenfield projects, but that can also vary by region. For example, China is now in a phase where most of the business is upgrading existing plants or improving efficiency whereas the Middle East and Africa have stronger demand for new facilities. 

SWISCA is modernizing and upgrading the Stadtmühle Schenk mill in Bern, Switzerland.

Swiss mill undertakes modernization

Stadtmühle Schenk is in the process of upgrading its mill in Bern, Switzerland, with state-of-the-art technology to improve food safety, energy and production efficiency. The 180-tpd soft wheat mill has grain storage capacity of 22,000 tonnes and flour storage capacity of 4,000 tonnes. The company sources wheat locally and supplies fl our, premixes, breadcrumbs and cereals to leading grocery retailers across the country.

The comprehensive modernization of the milling process is being completed in four phases, with the final phase expected to be completed in January 2027. Preparations are also underway for a future capacity expansion, which will include replacing the existing plansifters with 22 SIFTO modules. The upgrade is expected to complete the mill modernization while increasing overall production capacity by approximately20%.

After several months of testing a ROMIL protype, supplied by SWISCA, Stadtmühle Schenk decided to replace its existing roller mill floor. The project includes the installation of 16 ROMIL single- and double-roller mills in various roll lengths, along with two SIFTO plansifter modules. Thanks to their compact footprint, the new machines were an ideal fit for the existing mill layout, enabling a seamless replacement with only minimal structural modifications, SWISCA said.

The roller mills feature state-of-the-art feeding technology, stainless-steel construction and servo-controlled grinding gap adjustment. These improvements enhance grinding consistency while making cleaning and maintenance easier.

The cleaning section was simplified by installing an additional GRANO scale directly beneath the grain silo and removing the B1 depot on the top floor of the mill. The freed-up space was used to install a dedicated B1 ROMIL roller mill. In addition, a compact SIFTO-2 plansifter was installed on the spouting floor to separate bran at an earlier stage of the process, thereby improving overall process efficiency.

Production efficiency was enhanced through the introduction of automated roll gap adjustment, recipe-based product changeovers, and further process automation, e.g. magnetic separation of tramp metal with automatic discharge. These features improve process reliability, increase operational flexibility, and reduce manual intervention, resulting in more consistent product quality and higher overall plant efficiency.

Bühler supplied the equipment and automation for an organic flour mill for GoodMills in Schwechat, Austria.

GoodMills integrates old, new mill in Austria 

In response to demand for organic flour, GoodMills set out to build an organic flour mill in Schwechat, Austria. It wanted state-of-the-art technology, but it also wanted to integrate the new facility with an existing mill that has been operating for over a century. 

The site processes about 600 tonnes of grain per day, making it one of the country’s largest milling facilities. GoodMills operates 25 mills across seven countries, including two sites in Austria. 

Bühler supplied the equipment and automation for the new plant. With the goal of having the two mills working as one, delivering the data needed for optimization and reliability, the real challenge was integration. The new mill runs on Bühler’s Mercury MES system while the existing mill was controlled by a third-party platform. 

“The biggest challenge at the beginning was integrating new equipment with legacy and third-party systems,” said Peter Pscheidl, director technology and engineering at GoodMills Austria. “We needed a unified, networked automation system. This was more than a simple retrofit. We needed a partner capable of handling such a complex project — and Bühler was the right company for this task.”

Before implementing a modern control system on the existing plant, Bühler first had to assess the current state of the facility. The old mill, which had been supplied by a third-party decades ago, had been expanded several times over the years, and the documentation available was not always correct or easy to find.

The entire plant therefore had to be documented in detail. Every motor and every sensor was noted and transferred into a fully updated system. At the same time, obsolete hardware components that could no longer be replaced were removed — a step that significantly improved operational reliability.

 “The new control components we installed are still available on the market and can be easily replaced if needed,” said Christian Haldner, automation project manager at Bühler. “Another major advantage is the fully updated plant documentation.”

In addition, all interfaces had to be clearly identified and integrated, and hardware carefully incorporated into the overall system. Wherever possible, components were pre-tested in-house in Uzwil to minimize downtime at GoodMills. Server cabinets also were assembled in Switzerland to enable rapid installation on site. After several intensive weekends in Schwechat, during which every individual digital input and output was tested, the old mill was shut down, and the new Bühler Mercury MES control system was installed and commissioned.

GoodMills wanted only 10 days of shutdown to bring the new system into operation. This was essential to maintain deliveries while one mill was offline. Meeting this tight timeline required manpower, experience, and strong teamwork. 

Commissioning began with a complete disconnection from the existing system, followed by hardware conversion and connection of all signals to the Bühler Mercury MES system. The plant was then restarted, with all functions tested, and operating states verified to ensure smooth operations. 

“A key point for us was to involve GoodMills from an early stage,” Haldner said. “We provided training for their employees in multiple sessions over six months, so they were already confident using the new system when we transitioned.”

A team of more than 20 people worked in shifts around the clock at the beginning to meet the schedule. Today, GoodMills has two milling systems that function as one. 

Digitalization is essential for GoodMills to handle challenges such as tight margins, high energy costs, skilled labor shortages and strong competition. Bühler Insights allows GoodMills to compare the Schwechat plant with its other facilities across Europe based on consistent and comparable criteria. 

“The challenge for management is to bring key performance indicators across all locations to a common denominator and clearly explain why we do what we do,” Pscheidl said. “It allows us to understand why a parameter differs from one site to another — not to defend it, but proactively to enable better decisions.”

Artificial intelligence is being used in Schwechat on a small scale, for example in color sorting machines. Here, it helps remove foreign material efficiently, improving sorting quality while saving resources. It also supports incoming grain inspections and increases production efficiency.

“The path toward digitalization is clearly mapped out, and we are pursuing it at speed,” Pscheidl said. “But of course, we need to ensure that people can keep pace.” 

Employees are therefore trained as part of the project, starting with the team leaders, who then train their teams to work with the new digital tools and systems.

Susan Reidy is senior editor with World Grain and editor of the Grain & Milling Annual. She has 21 years of experience covering the grain handling and milling industries, the past 17 years with Sosland Publishing Company. She received a bachelor’s of journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Connect with Susan Reidy on LinkedIn or via email.