Innovation

Wikipedia sources state that the earliest known usage of flour mills to crush wheat seeds to make flour dates back to as far as 6000 BC. Flour is an indispensable raw material for a major portion of the Indian cuisine. While urban and semi-urban areas rely on the roller milled flour, the majority of rural and township areas still rely on flour grounded on chakki mills. The flour that is manufactured as a result of stone or chakki grinding retains much of its nutritional value as the germ and bran are retained. Roller milled flour is easily available and is the main component of baked goods and the flour facilitates more "fluffiness" in baked items. In India due to the Public Distribution System (PDS), the availability and consumption of flour, majorly roller milled, has more than doubled in rural areas and increased in the urban and semi-urban areas, since 2004, which also shows a decline in the consumption of rice. Roller milled flour also enjoys the advantage of being cheaper than chakki grounded flour, which also has a shorter shelf-life than the former. While being indigenous and traditional, one may be quick to state that with the added "titles", chakki grounded flour is bound to be more expensive. After thorough research, it has been finally deciphered that most of the price "upscaling" of chakki grounded flour is because there still exists ancient and inefficient machinery that is used to grind the flour, which is coupled with increased human involvement and greater time for production. These factors are majorly responsible for the higher price "tag" of chakki grounded flour, including other factors such as a proper distribution network.

The R&D department of the Choyal group unearthed the real issues behind Chakki grounded flour and came up with an innovative solution to the problem. Today grain milling has become a science involving new and innovative approaches consisting of high technology machinery. The machinery should be able to integrate the phases of the milling process including storing, sorting, blending, cleaning, conditioning, grinding, sieving, purifying, and packing. To satisfy the needs and desires of customers effectively and efficiently, mill owners always look for ways to make milling better, faster, and easier. Domestic millers often face problems regarding grinding as they have high-tech machinery for all the processes of milling except Chakki grinding. There is a demand for high-tech grinding, but the millers are helpless, as the Indian Chakkies are manual. Choyal group came up with the novel idea of automating the Chakki grounding process to make it more pleasant, quieter, cleaner, and easier. As a result, Wonder Mill and Wonder Miller were born. Wonder Mill is a fully automated chakki grounding machine with salient features like being Smart with digital capabilities such as:

Power Saving

Wifi Connectivity

Android Application based monitoring & control system.

Also, Wonder Mill along with Wonder Miller is the World’s first fully automated touch screen integrated flour mill. Wonder Atta Mart is another innovation. It is a flour vending machine and can be used to grind 3 different types of flour. This idea came to life with the thought of providing people with only 'Freshest Atta.'

Inspiration

The R&D department of the Choyal group always strives to identify problems and hurdles in the grain milling industry and come up with efficient solutions to those problems. The legacy of the founders, Mr. B.M. Choyal and Mr. R.D. Sharma, who were visionaries and pioneers in the field of grain milling, has always been kept alive through the endearing efforts of the R&D department of the Choyal group. As a result of their dedication to finding real-time solutions in the milling industry, this innovative product, Wonder Mill, was created.

When we were trying to understand the background of the milling, we realized that most of the milling machines, such as the roller mill and Emery Stone flour mills, were developed in the 1900s, but they are still used in present-day mills. The redundant technology fails to tackle the demands of the present grain milling industry, involving new and innovative approaches. There is a demand for high technology machinery during different phases of the milling process including storing, sorting, blending, cleaning, conditioning, grinding, sieving, purifying, and packing.

Wheat-based products are an indispensable part of the Indian cuisine, with high levels of consumption, largely unaffected by changes in its price. In fact, changing trends show a shift towards larger wheat consumption and a decrease in annual rice consumption. India is 2nd largest producer of wheat, producing 85-90 million metric tons (MMT) every year, accounting for 12.05% of the total world wheat production. 40 to 45 MMT of wheat is ground to produce whole wheat flour in mills. Chakki mills have been constant sources of flour throughout Indian culture and history, but traditional chakki grinding machines are outdated and the market demand for roller-milled flour has increased drastically. Nevertheless, the demand for chakki grounded flour still enjoys constant demand due to its high nutritional value. To satisfy the needs and desires of customers effectively and efficiently, mill owners always look for ways to make milling better, faster, and easier. Millers often face problems regarding grinding as they have high-tech machinery for all the processes of milling except Chakki grinding. When they want more high-tech grinding, they are helpless as the Indian Chakkies are manual and highly outdated.

It is so convenient for millers to operate an automated solution to their milling woes; a chakki-grinding machine, which can be operated remotely from any corner of the factory, workplace, or through a laptop or a mobile phone. Wonder Miller is not only "smart" by today's technology standards, but it also makes the milling task more pleasant, quieter, cleaner, and easier. Operating levels are increased and final goods turnover is greatly increased per operating cycle.

Overall impact

The innovation by Choyal has influenced the grain milling industry greatly. The innovation has replaced the much-dreaded void in the milling process. Initially, preceding the innovation, the milling process involved the use of high-tech machinery which performed with immense precision and efficiency, but the process of grain-grinding was always performed using outdated machinery from the 1900s. As a result, the grinding process was the bottleneck of the entire milling process. This was also one of the pivotal reasons for millers to start replacing chakki-grinders with roller mills, which were easier to operate, quicker, and more efficient than the former.

Choyal group's introduction of the fully-automated and smart chakki-grinders in the form of Wonder Mill and Wonder Miller reinstated the value of chakki-grinders. Wonder Mill with Wonder Miller is the World’s first fully automated touch screen integrated flour mill. It is designed to save power, increase production, and to improve the quality as well. One can operate Wonder Mill with a single touch. It has the State of the Art PLC system with 'Genius Brain' software which is known as “Wonder Miller”. Now, any reasonably trained person will be able to operate the whole plant.

Business benefit

The innovation has not only created a disruption in the market for "flour milling machines", but also helped increase demand for "chakki-grounded" flour against the prevailing "roller-mills" grounded flour. Moreover, the indigenous practices of the "grounded floor" societies have been revitalized with the innovation, thereby opening up new market opportunities in developing countries like India as well as continents like Africa. This innovation has helped companies to reduce production cost savings – up to 40% and reduced labor dependence.

We came across one of the articles published in the Miller Magazine in which Mr. Choyal’s interview appeared where he mentioned that “In today’s highly competitive business environment, there is tremendous pressure on organizations to offer quick and effective customer support. Providing technical support from the comfort of the office allows us to resolve nearly 80% of all technical issues encountered, and subsequently saves time and money. The use of remote desktop software has clearly reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction due to the quick response time.”

Social and environmental benefit

While interacting with Mr. R. S. Choyal on the impact we realized that the innovation is designed to save power, increase production, and to improve the quality as well. This has direct benefits in terms of reducing the carbon footprint. Another important direct benefit to society is the preservation of indigenous practices of the "grounded floor" which has helped immensely.

Interview

Mr. R.S.Choyal, Founder