Short downtime, long-lasting impact

The objective was to create a fully connected production environment — one digital network spanning old and new lines, supported by modern automation and tools such as Mercury MES and Bühler Insights. 

This step was the missing piece of the puzzle needed to create a fully modern, future-ready facility. It was also the most technically demanding part of the project. “The biggest challenge at the beginning was integrating new equipment with legacy and third-party systems. We needed a unified, networked automation system,” explains Peter Pscheidl, Director Technology & Engineering at GoodMills Austria. “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 objective was achieved. “Today, we have two milling systems that function as one and provide us with data for continuous optimization and high production reliability,” says Pscheidl. For GoodMills, digitalization is not just a ‘nice-to-have’; it is essential for survival. The entire industry faces major challenges, including tight margins, high energy costs, skilled labor shortages, and strong competition. At the same time, mills play a vital role in supplying a key staple food. “Milling is not high-margin business – that's why we need data to be efficient in terms of affordability and availability, while ensuring perfect quality and first-class decisions,” says Erwin Langela, Group Operations Director at GoodMills Group. 

This is where Bühler Insights creates added value. It 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,” says Pscheidl. This transparency supports informed decision-making in plant operations. “It allows us to understand why a parameter differs from one site to another – not to defend it, but proactively to enable better decisions.” 

For production manager Seidl, data transparency is highly valuable. “It is becoming increasingly important to extract clean data from the system. It gives us the tools to produce the best possible flour. And with Bühler Mercury MES, we can now do this perfectly. We can trace exactly where an issue occurred, identify bottlenecks, and monitor energy efficiency – an increasingly important topic.” 

AI is already being used in Schwechat on a smaller 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. 

 Seen in this light, the mill in Schwechat is an active automation project. “The path toward digitalization is clearly mapped out, and we are pursuing it at speed. But of course, we need to ensure that people can keep pace,” says Pscheidl. Employees are therefore trained as part of the project. It starts with the team leaders, who act as multipliers, training their teams to work with the new digital tools and systems. “First top-down, then selectively,” says Pscheidl. After a period of operation, the approach is fine-tuned.