A roller mill is only as good as the flutes on its rollers. When the flutes are worn, shallow, uneven or cut to the wrong profile, the rollers stop cutting the kernel and start crushing it. Extraction drifts down, more bran and dark specks end up in the meal, the meal comes out coarser or less even, and the motors draw more power to do the same work. None of it stops the mill, which is why it often goes unnoticed for months.
Until now, many millers in Zambia and the southern DRC sent their rollers out of the country for fluting, with the transport, paperwork and waiting that go with it. This note covers what Roff's new fluting workshop in Kitwe does, who it is for, and how to book.
What poor fluting costs a mill
Fluting is not simply cutting grooves into steel. The number of flutes, their depth, their angle and the profile of each edge are matched to the roller's place in the mill: a first-break roller and a reduction roller are cut differently, and a roller cut to the wrong profile gives the same problems as a worn one from the day it goes back in. Rollers that are fluted unevenly also load the mill unevenly, so one side of the roller does the work while the other side rubs.
Why it matters: every point of extraction lost on a commercial mill is maize paid for and not sold as meal. Over a season, badly fluted rollers cost more than the fluting ever would. If your extraction has slipped without a change in your maize, or your meal shows more specks than it used to, the rollers are the first thing to check.
Fluting done the Roff way, now in Zambia
Roff has fluted rollers at its factory in Kroonstad for decades. The Kitwe branch now does the same work in Zambia. The branch technician trained with the Kroonstad fluting team, and a senior technician from South Africa then spent several weeks in Kitwe fluting the first batches of customer rollers under supervision before signing the department off. The rollers are cut to the correct profile for their position in the mill and checked before they go back.
The workshop takes rollers from any make of roller mill, not only Roff mills, up to 1 m long and 250 mm in diameter. If you are not sure what you have, send a photo of the roller and the nameplate of the mill, and the branch will tell you.
Kitwe is the right place for Zambia and the DRC
The branch sits on the Chingola road in Kitwe, in the middle of the Copperbelt and on the route to the Kasumbalesa border. For mills in Lusaka, the Copperbelt and the north, and for mills in Lubumbashi, Likasi and Kolwezi, that puts Roff fluting within reach by road, instead of a long cross-border haul. Collection and delivery can be arranged, and many larger mills already have trucks running to and from the Copperbelt, so a set of rollers travels with a load that was going anyway.
Tip: a spare set of rollers lets you swap and keep milling while the worn set is being fluted. If you do not have one, ask the branch about a second set when you book.
Refluting a roller at Roff's factory in Kroonstad, South Africa.
How to book
Call or WhatsApp the Kitwe branch on +260 76 783 4381, leave your details in the form below or email sales@roffmilling.com, with the make of your mill, the number of rollers and their size if you know it. Pricing depends on the size and condition of the rollers and how many you send, so ask for a quote. Drop the rollers at the branch or ask about collection when you book.
Map Link: Roff Milling Zambia, Unit 3, Vibhav Business Park, Chingola Road, Garneton, Kitwe.
For the full picture of what worn rollers cost a mill, read What worn rollers are really costing your maize mill.
