Milling & Baking News - May 17, 2011 - AIB - 11

Gary Skrdlant, right, was recently named the new vice-president of Administration

New man in charge

One thing that will be different for Mr. Skrdlant will be ary Skrdlant, AIB International’s new vice-president of Administration, had plenty of time to get ready attending meetings like the American Bakers Association for his new job after Paul Klover, his boss and and other trade groups where he will mix and meet with industry leaders, one of Mr. Klover’s responsibilities. predecessor, hired him in November 1982. External pressure from government, from business, from Mr. Skrdlant and the Institute grew over the next 29 years. Over the years he assumed a wide variety of legal will be the biggest challenge he will face, Mr. Skrdlant said. “There’s a lot of competition out there, a lot of federal responsibilities beyond accounting and finance he studied regulations, and the legal side where at Kansas State University. people are much more willing to All this is a big change from Mr. go out and sue somebody whether Skrdlant’s career of first choice as a After 35 years, AIB has a new they’re doing anything wrong or biologist. His first job was with the not,” he said. “The people inside U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army v.p. of administration AIB know their jobs, and know what Corps of Engineers in Colorado’s San they’re doing. My job is to keep the Juan National Forest. Then Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, initiated a hiring freeze, and Mr. barriers down so people can do their work. I’m just going to play it by ear initially. I’m not going to be making Skrdlant changed careers in order to make a living. “When I originally hired on with AIB I told Paul I’d be many changes. As we go forward I’ll assess things and here three to five years,” Mr. Skrdlant said. “That was the make changes as needed.” MBN target. Part of that was my wife is from Manhattan (Kas.), and she wanted our children to grow up around Manhattan, too. That’s a lot of why we stayed here, but it was also the additional challenge with the international business. I was just being challenged constantly.” When he began, AIB was one company that dealt AIB International will begin the roll out of its new Automated Quality Management exclusively in American dollars. System (AQMS) in the second quarter of 2011. “We did very little work outside of the United States,” Focused on enhancing client service and access to data, the rollout will be divided he said. into two phases delivering the following beneﬁts: The American Institute of Baking is now AIB International Phase I: Operational Excellence and it is two companies, one a for-profit corporation that Easy-to-read G.M.P. inspection reports that audit customers may scan quickly to deals with food safety audits and inspections, and a notpinpoint problem areas. for-profit business that offers training and education. Clear and timely system e-mails informing customers of upcoming audits and Since Mr. Skrdlant began working with “one company, locations, and for announced audits, times and dates. one currency,” AIB International now provides services Greater consistency across auditor food safety ﬁndings due to more systemic in as many as 120 countries each year and has offices in collection of data. the United States, Mexico, South America, the United Assistance from AIB International‘s helpful staff with: Kingdom, Canada, China, and Australia. Spreadsheet reports on ﬁndings, scores and schedules for any location and any AIB made less than $1 million in 1977, its first year of time period. operation in Manhattan, and now brings in revenues in the Tracking and status of in-progress reports. tens of millions of dollars and has more than 250 employees. G.M.P. inspection results optionally offered in Spanish. Mr. Skrdlant’s wide-ranging responsibilities also include Customizable reports will let customers compare results by business unit, the AIB buildings and grounds, the Service Department division or region. that handles all of AIB’s mailings, AIB’s business and Phase II: Client Portal accounting functions, investments, human resources, and Dashboards for monitoring of critical Key Performance Indicators (KPI) facilities and equipment. Self-access reports: “Of course, the financial part of it, by far that’s what Summary G.M.P. Inspection scores I’ve done the most of, and a lot of my training is in the Summary G.M.P. Inspection Findings financial area,” he said. “I’ve also been associated with Inspection Schedules some of the H.R. work, and working with computers so Report release authorizations I’ve done a lot of my new job responsibilities over time. Through this implementation, AIB International expects to create exceptional I actually don’t have much trepidation about any of the value for its clients. MBN work associated with his job.”

AQMS marketing benefits

AIB International 2011

Milling & Baking News - May 17, 2011

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