MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — The Kansas State University IGP Institute hosted the Bühler-KSU executive milling training May 20-24.

“This training is designed to benefit current mill owners, directors and managers in the milling industry,” said Jason Watt, Kansas State University Bühler instructor of milling.

Six participants from four states and El Salvador gained an understanding of the challenges of the operating staff, and learned which critical control points to check in order to judge whether an operation is running well.

Along with classroom discussion and instruction, executives toured the Hal Ross Flour Mill and were able to gain a hands-on experience working with mill machinery, systems, processing and handling. The course participants represented a wide range of industry jobs.

“We had individuals from backgrounds of maintenance, wheat purchasing and finance,” Watt said. “There was a large amount of discussion throughout the course, and everyone seemed to get the most out of it.”

Watt said he and Michael Albers, flour milling expert from the Bühler Training Center in Uzwil, Switzerland, saw deep interest by the participants during the hands-on milling experiences as they took the theory from the classroom and applied it in the mill.

“I understand more about what our milling teams are talking about and everything will seem more relevant to me from a financial standpoint,” said Betsy Horton, chief financial officer of Miller Milling Co. “There’s a few things I plan to take back to our company about how we can make more money of the mills we already have.”