World Grain - November 2009 - 44

FEATURE: GEOGRAPHICALLY WELL POSITIONED

Buhler Inc. was the principal equipment supplier in the expansion of the Saginaw mill. (Left) Double-high rollstands helped ConAgra Mills more than
double daily milling capacity. (Right) A Buhler scourer MHXS and aspirator MVSQ.

(Continued from page 43)
whatever needs to be done. We never
say 'It's not my job.'"
MAXIMIZING CAPACITY POTENTIAL
When the Saginaw mill was built in
1999, Country Home constructed the
facility with the idea that a second milling unit would be added. So ConAgra
Mills acquired a mill with much of the
infrastructure in place for a second unit
- open floor space, slip form flour bins
(without the bin bottoms) and temper bins.
Structurally, all that was added as part
of the expansion project was a new feed
bin built by Younglove Construction,
L.L.C., Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
"We were very fortunate the infrastructure was in place," Garvert said.
"In today's flour markets, with today's
flour economics, the returns on investment would not allow us to add the capacity on a greenfield site."
Garvert said squeezing 8,000 cwts of
daily milling capacity into a space originally conceived as suited for a 6,000cwt mill was the greatest challenge in
executing the project. Buhler Inc. was
engaged as the principal milling equipment supplier.
"That was the trick," he said. "It was
Buhler ingenuity, beginning with the
double-high roll stands that made it pos46

sible to get 8,000 cwts of capacity."
Continuing to run the A mill while the
expansion was under way also created
challenges, Thomas said. Still, the installation was completed in a fairly short
period of time, beginning in December
2007 with the mill fully operational in
June 2008.
In addition to the double-high roll
stands, other advanced technological
features in the mill include Buhler Sirius sifters.
"Sanitation is more important today
than ever, and the mill has no wood in it
whatsoever," Thomas said. "Within the
sifters, the sieves are made from preformed plastic."
Thomas was ConAgra Mills' day-today point man for the expansion project
with corporate support from Dean Hoerning, director of engineering, and Ted
Korolchuk, director of technical milling, and overall oversight from Brad
Allen, vice-president of manufacturing.
In addition to Plymouth, Minnesota,
U.S.-based Buhler Inc., other companies involved in the expansion included
Blower Engineering, Inc., Lewiston,
New York, U.S., for blowers; WAM Inc.,
Fort Worth, for screw conveyors; Tramco, Inc., Wichita, Kansas, U.S.., for drag
conveyors; Interstates Companies, Sioux
Center, Iowa, U.S., for electrical (includ-

ing Allen-Bradley programmable controllers); SCA Inc., Independence, Kansas, U.S., for equipment installation; and
Younglove, the site general contractor.
The new milling unit has the capacity
to run "lights out" but is not being operated that way, Thomas said.
Still, the mill's staffing is lean with an
hourly workforce totaling 23.
The Buhler roll stands allow for
easier roll change, emblematic of a
focus on sanitation in the new project.
Concern about sanitation naturally is
heightened anywhere in the southern
portion of the United States because of
warmer weather, but the issue has taken
on even greater importance in milling
because of the changing environment
for fumigation. The Saginaw mill has
been methyl bromide free for the past
five years, utilizing instead a monthly
fogging system.
"We believe, long term, that Texas is
a critical market to be well positioned
in," Brown said. "We want to do it with
modern assets. We are investing in the
future of the marketplace."
L. Joshua Sosland is editor of World Grain's
sister publication Milling & Baking News.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and
inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of
WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

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