Mulino Maroggia
November 23, 2020 was a devastating day in the history of Mulino Maroggia, the only industrial flour mill in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. A fire broke out at the facility, quickly destroying most of its structure. Since then, Bühler teams have been working closely with Alessandro Fontana, Owner and Managing Director of Mulino Maroggia, and his team to rebuild the plant. Thanks to joint efforts, the mill is scheduled to be operational in the first half of 2023.
Dalen Jacomino, January 2023
It all started a few minutes after five o’clock in the afternoon of Monday, November 23, 2020. The fire most probably started at the warehouse on the ground floor, according to the experts, and quickly spread through Mulino Maroggia’s main building. No one was injured, but the fire caused extensive damage to the structure.
During that afternoon and evening, people living close by were advised to keep their doors and windows closed and avoid approaching the fire area. The tragedy impacted not only the owner’s family and employees, but the whole community of Maroggia, a former municipality in the canton of Ticino which now is part of Val Mara, with a population of about 730.
In the middle of the chaos, still on that tragic Monday, while firefighters were trying to put out the fire, Alessandro Fontana, Owner and Managing Director of Mulino Maroggia, called Bühler for help. On the other end of the video call was Martin Ruckstuhl, Sales Manager for Milling Solutions in Switzerland, who could see some of the flames in the background of the call and experience the tension in the air. Fontana and his team needed immediate assistance. They needed to get the right advice and full support to manage Mulino Maroggia out of that crisis. Even as the mill was burning, the mindset was to rebuild and rise from the ashes.
“We were shocked and saddened to see that scary scene. The fire was still burning; so at this point they could not confirm the exact impact. We knew that Alessandro needed us, and we were ready to be a trusted partner for him in such a challenging time,” Ruckstuhl recalls.
Mulino Maroggia and Bühler have a relationship that is nearing its 100-year anniversary. The business was founded in the late 1800s by Michael Stadlin, a descendant of an ancient family of millers active in central Switzerland. In 1888, the Stadlin family took over the Raggi e Contestabile mill based in Maroggia, a village that has always been connected to milling activities in the Italian part of Switzerland.
In 1904, the Stadlin family purchased a rice mill located on the site where Mulino Maroggia is located. The rice mill was then demolished to make room for a new mill, which was ideally situated thanks to its easy access to the railway line, a track that even today is essential for the national supply of bulk grain. The structure was completed with the construction of a wooden silo. The new mill built by Bühler began operations in 1924.
Since then, the company has been on quite a journey. In 1998, a violent hailstorm around Maroggia and the lower Mara valley, followed by a cloudburst, completely flooded Mulino Maroggia, damaging the buildings, making the machinery unusable and destroying the stocks of finished products. The desire to keep the milling tradition alive led the then owner, Luigi Fontana, to decide on the renovation of the complex. This move was strongly influenced by his son Alessandro’s decision to continue the family business. Back then, a Bühler team also took up the challenge to support the Fontana family in its quest to rebuild it.
This event brought the companies even closer. “After the incident in 1998, we had to repair and replace some equipment, stay in alignment, and give advice and support when needed. The mill was in good shape until the fire,” says Ruckstuhl, who wasn’t responsible for the customer at that time but was fully briefed by his predecessor when he took Mulino Maroggia’s account. “Later, of course, Alessandro Fontana explained all the details of this incident to me as well.”
As a manager focused on innovation, Fontana continuously upgraded the plant and ensured regular maintenance. He also developed new products, new labels, and built up a platform for e-commerce business. In 2017, the oldest part of the plant was renovated to accommodate a larger and more practical warehouse for packaged products. In addition, a new area of about 170 square meters was refurbished, becoming a space for visitors and for holding events. At the same time a mixing and bagging line for special products was implemented in the production area. The mill was then fully automated.
“We are a family company with a very resilient culture. Over the last years, we have increased our production, and created a new line of products. This happened thanks to our collaboration with grain producers in the region,” Fontana explains.
Mulino Maroggia is not just a mill, it is our home, it is our life. This is where I grew up.
Alessandro Fontana,
Owner and Managing Director of Mulino Maroggia
Fontana also dreamed of making the milling world more accessible to the public to increase awareness of the industry’s vital role in feeding and nourishing people. “With the dedicated visitor space and right infrastructure developed in 2017, we were able to open the doors to the public and let them discover how we produce various types of flour,” explains Fontana.
Everything was running smoothly until that fateful day in November 2020. The fire and its devastation were certainly the toughest test in the history of Mulino Maroggia. Besides Alessandro Fontana’s family, the 16 employees and their respective families were hardest hit by the fact that the mill was no longer operational.
The population of Maroggia and the region have been very supportive. Fontana highlights the solidarity of the people, who, in addition to the positive and motivational words, have donated more than CHF 50,000 during the last few months to support the company. “We have realized how much the mill is imprinted in the DNA of Maroggia and region.
All this pushes us forward. People want to see us reborn,” says Fontana. He also explains that as yet there is no specific destination for the donation made by the community. “We are counting on that amount as a reserve for the future.”
Nearly two years after the tragedy, there is still no clear explanation for the cause of the fire, which razed the mill to the ground, destroyed 180 machines and electrical components, and an old wheat silo nearby. A concrete wheat silo built in the 1950s, a storage room for flour bags, and a newly renovated area used for training and events were not affected by the fire.
We knew that Alessandro needed us, and we were ready to be a trusted partner for him in such a challenging time.
Martin Ruckstuhl,
Sales Manager for Milling Solutions in Switzerland at Bühler
Due to the extensive damage to the machinery, it was impossible to continue production. Nevertheless, one of the top priorities for Fontana was to make sure his employees had support and could keep working. For that, he looked for a custom solution. During the construction period, one employee from production, for example, worked part time at the warehouse; another employee shared his activities between the warehouse and the construction site (since he had the requisite skills and knowledge). For another employee, Fontana found a temporary job in another company. There weren’t changes in the team working at the administration since there was still work to be done.
In fact, Fontana didn’t stop attending to his customers. He was able to establish a cooperation with Knecht Mühle AG, based in Leibstadt, to process the grains for his company during the construction of his new mill. The company produced the flour according to Mulino Maroggia’s specifications. Alessandro and his team took care of the orders, received the goods, and delivered the flour to its customers. One Mulino Maroggia employee worked temporarily at Knecht to support this process.
After the call on the day of the fire, we immediately established a Bühler support team, started to design the new flow sheets, and together with his architect began to conceive the new Mulino Maroggia mill.
Martin Ruckstuhl,
Sales Manager for Milling Solutions in Switzerland at Bühler
Back to November 2020: “After the call with Alessandro on the day of the fire, we immediately established a Bühler support team. From the beginning, Alessandro was clear: in two years he wanted to rebuild the mill and get back to production – at the same location. As soon as possible, we started to design the new flow sheets, and together with his architect, began to conceive the new Mulino Maroggia mill,” explains Ruckstuhl.
Many aspects had to be factored in for the rebuild and many decisions had to be made. Rene Thöny, Team Manager for Customer Projects at Bühler, who oversees Mulino Maroggia’s project, was prepared. “There were many aspects to be considered and many decisions to be made. Therefore, for us, it was crucial to involve all different teams at a very early stage and be very transparent to the customer regarding the situation and potential challenges,” Thöny explains. A project like this, says Thöny, is like building a house. “At the very beginning, we do not talk about details, we need to have a rough idea about the location, building dimensions, number of rooms, etc. And from there, we move deeper and deeper into the details until all of them are defined and agreed.”
In the case of building a mill, the project is in general structured in six phases: initiation and conception, basic engineering, detailed engineering, installation, commissioning, and project closing. Once the design is approved by the customer (end of basic engineering), the details regarding the manufacturing of Bühler’s equipment and the detailed building specifications for the construction of the building are worked out, the project moves to the execution phase. With that step completed, Mulino Maroggia can execute the building and Bühler can order and deliver all the machines, transport elements, and accessories in the correct quantity and the required specifications.
In parallel to the mechanical part of the project, the hardware is planned, manufactured, and delivered, and programming is carried our on Mercury MES, Bühler’s Manufacturing Execution System which integrates all processes to increase efficiency and traceability for a clearer look at the key data. Bühler Insights, a platform for connecting products and services to optimize plant efficiency, will also be integrated into the mill. Other service modules, such as Yield Manufacturing System (YMS), Error and Downtime Analysis (EDA), Temperature and Vibration Management Service (TVM), and Replay are also included in the plan. Mulino Maroggia’s project will have a capacity to process 50 tons per day, which is similar to what it was able to produce before the fire. The mill encompasses rails and truck intake, pre-cleaning, wheat storage, enhanced cleaning, and production lines for processing conventional and local organic grains.
It also has flour storage and finished product packaging as well as a bulk loading system. “One of the differences is that before we were using about 60 percent of the mill’s capacity. The equipment was relatively new, but the production building was old, which hindered the flow of production. With the new mill and new building, we will easily reach full capacity,” explains Fontana.
Each phase of the project requires different expertise. Throughout the entire journey, which should last a bit more than two years, 20 to 30 Bühler experts will have worked on that project. From the Mulino Maroggia side, Fontana and his team were fully engaged in every phase, with alignment meetings taking place on a weekly basis.
Before, we were using about 60 percent of the mill’s capacity. With the new mill and new building, we will easily reach full capacity.
Alessandro Fontana,
Owner and Managing Director of Mulino Maroggia
In fact, at the beginning, the teams also faced the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and had several meetings online. “It was a crazy time. I had so many new challenges at the same time. The coronavirus pandemic was one of them. I remember coming to Uzwil and finding Bühler’s building empty. It was very unusual, but we kept it going. We didn’t stop,” explains Fontana.
In August 2022, the final planning was completed, all equipment was ordered, and most of the pieces were manufactured. Internal and external coordination with the customer, building contractors, installation teams, and the manufacturing site were still ongoing throughout the second half of 2022; automation engineering also progressed during that period.
According to Fontana, the building should be finished by the end of 2022 and installation of the mill is scheduled to start in January 2023.
“With this new mill, we will take a step further in our digitalization journey, having a state-of-the-art mill with the latest technologies available to control and measure production, and a much better production flow due to the full integration between the building design and the mill,” says Fontana.
The mill is planned to go into operation in May 2023. This is when a new phase starts for Fontana, his employees, and the community of Maroggia. Fontana and his family have chosen to persevere – and rebuild the mill. They used the tragedy as an opportunity to advance in his goal of nourishing the community with healthy and local products. Bühler is proud to be a partner in this venture.
We will take a step further in our digitalization journey by having a mill with the latest technologies available to control and measure production, as well as a much better production flow due to the full integration between the building design and the mill.
Alessandro Fontana,
Owner and Managing Director of Mulino Maroggia
