Changes in key plant operations and engineering management positions at MGP Ingredients Inc. were jointly announced by Tim Newkirk, vice president and chief operating officer, and Randy Schrick, vice president of manufacturing and engineering. The new appointments are part of an overall plan to further strengthen the company's operational innovation and excellence initiatives.

Roger Schmidt, who had served as general manager of the company's Kansas City, Kan., plant since 2001, has been named general manager of MGPI's production facility in Atchison, Kan. Todd Scheer, who principally has managed operations at the company's Onaga, Kan., facility in recent months, succeeds Schmidt as general manager of the Kansas City plant.

In other moves, Asif Malik has been appointed to the position of general manager of the company's Pekin, Ill., plant, succeeding Dave Wilbur, who has assumed the new role of corporate director of special projects. In addition, Gordon Working has recently accepted the newly created position of corporate director of distillery process engineering.

"We have implemented these changes with great confidence in the abilities of these five outstanding individuals to effectively manage and strengthen the many facets of our plant operations and processes," Newkirk said. "Each has demonstrated strong leadership qualities and proven that they are highly capable of taking on the responsibilities and challenges of these key roles within our company."

Schrick added that the organizational changes "reflect the company's evolution" as a producer of naturally derived ingredients and alcohol products.

"Our product platforms and manufacturing capabilities have increased in recent years, not only at our core operations in Atchison and Pekin, where we produce all of our alcohol products and the majority of our proteins and starches, but also at our protein and starch further-processing facilities in Kansas City and Onaga," he said. "This has led us to the realignment of responsibilities in the plant management and corporate engineering areas. We feel we have the best people in place to continue to move our plant operations and initiatives forward as we build on our past successes."