Miller-Villes learn from Switzerland

– The teacher seemed amused by our background. Of course, the other students also had to wonder about the two Villes, Kurvinen laughs.

The course participants, who came to Switzerland from Belgium, Turkey, Argentina and India, each had a very different starting point for their training.

–The Turkish student was present at the request of their father, obliged by the family mill. The Indians came from different parts of the country: one was setting up their own mill, the other was passing on information to their employer, says Kurvinen. 

According to Kurvinen, seeing e.g. the differences in the grain cleaning process from one country to another was eye opening. The milling processes of wheat mills also differ from each other.

– Belgian mills do not have a purifier because they focus on starch extraction. For us, a purifier is a necessity. It is used to recover semolina, says Loikkanen, giving an example.
 
– Both me and my namesake live in Kellokoski, a kilometre away from each other, and we both work as shift millers in the same team at Helsinki Mills' Järvenpää factory, Kurvinen sums up.

"Work teaches and education deepens understanding"

Bühler is a brand familiar to milling professionals worldwide and a long-standing partner of Helsinki Mills.  

–  We have chosen Bühler as our trainer because they have good equipment, long history, strong expertise, and instructors with superior experience," says Martti Loikkanen, Plant Manager and head miller of Järvenpää.

Martti has attended a year-long milling school at Bühler and several shorter courses lasting a couple of weeks. Martti's younger brother, Ville Loikkanen, had completed the Milling Technology 2 course before the autumn of 2024 - for Ville Kurvinen, this was his first study trip to Switzerland.  

–  Although the basic principle of the mill remains the same, the milling process is evolving, and new equipment is being introduced. Enterprise resource planning systems are also becoming increasingly intelligent. Even an efficient factory can always be made more efficient. At Helsinki Mills, we teach and develop while working, but it's also good to deepen your understanding through training. This way we have several professionals taking responsibility for the quality of the flour.

It is a long road for a miller. You learn as you face and solve problems. In addition to the Plant manager, who acts as the head miller, the Järvenpää team includes five shift millers.  

– It's a big help to have experienced professionals who have seen it all to work with. But it also works the other way round: experts dare to ask younger people for help," sums up Ville Loikkanen (42), who started working in Järvenpää's packaging plant in 2007 and moved to the mill side in 2011.

Ville Kurvinen (38) was finishing up his business degree at a university of applied sciences while working, when his summer job in Järvenpää changed to a permanent title. Kurvinen, who started at Helsinki Mills in 2010, moved to the mill side at the beginning of 2020 to learn from the head miller. In less than a year, trust had been gained.

– On Independence Day 2020, I was on call alone for the first time, Kurvinen recalls.

Theory and practice: the whole process from grain to bread baked in the oven

In Switzerland, the two-week training course focused on wheat mills, with only a brief mention of rye and oat mills. 

– Some things  I knew to expect. However, there was a huge amount of new information, even though the basics were familiar. I was particularly surprised by the variety of production facilities and the different products that are manufactured," says Loikkanen, describing the training. 

– I thought this would be easy once we had the materials. But after spending two days studying wheat grains, it was clear that the course was thorough and our teacher was a true milling expert. The 12-hour days in English and with a professional vocabulary ensured that sleep came easily when we arrived at our accommodation after a short train journey at dusk. We got to try local breads and Swiss cheeses, mainly at our hotel's excellent breakfast, Kurvinen continues.

Plant Manager Martti Loikkanen had also armed the two Villes with a battery of questions in relation to the new sifter cabinets. As souvenirs, we received not only the teacher's answers, but also new ideas and small tips that could be put to use immediately. 

– Our teacher, who proceeded in a conversational style, spoke clear and good English. It was also easy to communicate with the course participants in English. Having a colleague with me allowed me to immediately review what I had learned from the perspective of Helsinki Mills and the Järvenpää factory, Kurvinen notes with satisfaction.
 

In Kurvinen's opinion, the best part of the course was the day spent using the test mill.

– It was precisely the in-depth information on the equipment that I was interested in already before the course began. What might be blocked? Which settings might need changing? How would the problem be solved at home in Järvenpää? 

As a continuation of the milling technique, the course participants were also able to get their hands into the dough while gaining an understanding of how bakers like their flour. 

Loikkanen is familiar with baking: at home, his wife is responsible for sweet pastries, Ville for breads - his specialty being baguettes.

Kurvinen admits that he was not born a baker, so the last few days of the course at the test bakery also gave him new perspective.

– 20 different doughs were made on Thursday, and on Friday morning we saw how each one had risen. 

What are your thoughts after the training?

– The mill keeps turning and the work goes on. Now it is time to share this information. We will train younger millers and stay on top of trends. For example, by following different mills and equipment suppliers on LinkedIn, I have also found tips for my own workplace, says Loikkanen.

– The best thing about my job is the independence, but there is a lot of sparring in the shift rotation.