Milling & Baking News - March 23, 2004 - 29

dramatic effect. At the same time, there
probably will be some opportunities to
come out with special niche products that
have added value."
In addition to the trend toward lowcarbohydrate products, Mr. Reid sees
continuing challenges from a staffing
standpoint. "As we increase the level of
our plants as far as automation and product security and quality, it requires better
people," he said. "And it requires people
who are trainable, responsible, drug free
and willing to work nights and weekends
- a tough combination." He said he also
has concern about the status of the Grain
Science and Industry Department at Kansas State University. A source of excellent
professional managers for many years,
K.S.U. has experienced a drop in enrollment in recent years, and Mr. Reid said
the milling industry must step forward to
support the department's efforts to bring
those figures back up.
A final area that presents challenges
continues to be a broad scope of government regulations, he said. Ranging from
mycotoxins in wheat to chlorine risk
management plans, it's often difficult to
stay abreast of changes in regulations,
Mr. Reid said. "We have a multitude of
regulations, that if you did all the training you're supposed to do, you wouldn't
have anybody working," he said. "So this
whole idea of regulations is immensely
more difficult than it was 30 years ago.
This is an issue we're going to have to
deal with and I don't see any relief going
forward."
In addition to his role at Mennel, Mr.
Reid has been an active participant in
the International Association of Operative Millers, serving as president of the
group in 1991 and presenting on several
occasions at the I.A.O.M.'s technical
conference. He said he believes the
importance of attending the I.A.O.M.
annual meeting and other conferences
of the same type is nearly immeasurable
when considering the exposure that a
company's employes might get to new
technology, information and interaction
with peers.
A second reason for attending the
meetings, he said, lies in investment in
human capital. "I'm a capitalist and I
think investment in human capital is
just as important as your investment in
machinery and equipment in your plant,"
he explained. "You can't be static in this
world, you just have to improve. And this

bakingbusiness.com/world-grain.com

is the best environment. If you have the
type of people who can absorb this and
want to improve - and those are the
types of people you want - then they're
going to go to the meeting and learn and
pick up things that more than pay for that
small investment."
Finally, he said, the meetings should
be considered a reward for those workers who face a difficult daily task. "Flour

milling is a tough job, it's a 24-7 job a lot of
times," he said. "There is no way you can
have a repair day without getting dirty.
So it's kind of nice when we get away
sometimes and be treated as V.I.P.'s by
the vendors, have a nice dinner, go to an
Allied Trades party or other activity that
provides a bit of a reward or appreciation
for all the other stuff we do." MBN
- Eric Schroeder

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Milling & Baking News, March 23, 2004 / 29
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Milling & Baking News - March 23, 2004

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