Senior Development Technologist
Stephen Greatbatch
Bowmans Milling

Having completed a degree in Physics and the obligatory year off travelling (from the sofa to the fridge and back) it seemed the obvious next step to embark on a career in flour milling!

I joined Bowmans in 1993 on a temporary contract as a Development Technician at Whitley Bridge to work on a project on non-chlorinated cake flour. The role included a basic grounding in laboratory wheat and flour testing but more importantly I got to play with pilot scale machinery and create new products. It was great to be able to produce something entirely new and then see your efforts transformed into something edible, so when a permanent position arose at our newly built flour heat treatment plant I jumped at the opportunity to work there.

The job involved packing and general warehouse duties but eventually developed into a role operating the production facility. Working in operations presented me with a whole new range of challenges, trying to keep production in line with our rapidly expanding order book, especially with products requiring several days of micro testing before release. Along with the day-to-day production there were always lots of opportunities to "play around" with the equipment either to explore the capabilities of the plant or working on customer requests. The development aspect had always appealed to me and guided my career path towards that of a Flour Technologist; in 1998 I took on this new role based mainly at our Ickleford site.

The job has continued to evolve and now encompasses a multi site role with a strong emphasis on customer support. The range of products and processes I work with is ever changing and makes for a diverse and interesting role. There are always new challenges around the corner and it's very satisfying to turn a customer's brief into a workable product, carry the development through into the factory and then on to the shelves.

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