GERTECH HANDLING SYSTEMS CC
Engineering in Cape Town

The company concentrates on products and services in the bulk material handling industries, ranging from storage systems, mechanical conveyors and pneumatic conveying systems. Since 1998 the company has been involved in supplying equipment and storage facilities for handling of material in bulk. Design and manufacturing of complete storage and conveying systems for all types of dry material which can be handled in bulk. Small scale wheat flour milling has become a unique and exciting alternative business in the food supply industry and provides an excellent method for those entrepreneurs who want to break away from the current known way of buying flour to bake bread. An essential component of a typical small-scale flour mill is the use of a stone mill which is the main reason why flour from these small mills produces better tasting bread and all sorts of delicatessen. For the business people there is the additional advantage that more bread can be baked out of the same amount of flour due to the higher water absorption capacity of this type of flour. All of this because a stone mill is used in the process to mill the wheat, just like in the old days. Please be aware that in the flour milling industry sometimes wheat flour is bleached but this is not necessary with the typical small-scale flour mills offered by Gertech. We at Gertech have personally been involved in the development of the small-scale flour milling systems with emphasis on high and consistent quality cake- and white bread flour. The picture on the right shows example of storage silos for wheat. Flow capacity of the cleaning process is normally between 1,5 to 3 tph. The stone mill is used to finish the flour milling process. The big industrial mills do not have stone mills due to the relatively low flow rates involved. But the taste of the baked products will make this type of milling system successful. Gertech has first hand knowledge and hands-on experience of operating a typical flour mill and when such a system is purchased from Gertech support to get the system going will be provided. The person in charge should be somebody with good practical hands-on mechanical knowledge. Records are the base documents used to manage the mill. This is the principle of the financial success of any wheat mill. Once the extraction principle is under control the miller can slowly try to increase the capacity of wheat flow rate into the mill but this can only be done with the production records in hand as a bench mark. For consistency the big industrial millers have a range of silos from where the wheat is blended to provide a stable and balanced supply to the mill. Make friends with a bakery client who, from time to time can do some test bakes. Some basic knowledge of bread baking will be helpful when clients start to blame the flour. Do not underestimate the work and time necessary to make these mills a success. For this reason it is wise to know exactly what goes on in the local market.