Launch of the farm management optimisation program
Maassluis, the Netherlands, November 13 2018 – The landscape of farming is changing; dairy farms are growing but still work with the same amount of labour and routines. In many cases, this leads to high workloads, an increased labour turnover and farm results that have room for improvement. This is why Lely developed the DairyWise farm management optimisation program. The farm specific program, based on lean principles, focusses on target setting, observing the current situation and implementing improvements. With this step, Lely expands their Farm Management Support services.
A DairyWise program is a journey of learning and continuous improvement. The techniques should be considered as a toolbox rather than a set of pre-set solutions. These tools can be applied to any type of practice on the farm, such as feeding and milking routines, health and reproduction tasks, and staff management.
People drive results
Success is a team effort. Therefore, the DairyWise consultant helps the entire team to evaluate the current situation, define targets as well as brainstorm on opportunities for improvements. The consultant secures a holistic approach and learns the team to recognize value and waste in their processes. All improvements will captured in protocols, evaluated and receive follow-up. If necessary. By involving the entire team, significant and long lasting results can be achieved in just a few months.
Proven successes
Experiences with ten different cases and circumstances on dairy farms all over the world have already proven the success of DairyWise. Besides improvements on milk production, animal health and production costs it also improved communication and made employees feel more involved and appreciated.
The DairyWise program is most relevant for dairy farms who have more than 6 months experience with four or more milking robots.
Book: ‘Lean in farming’
At the EuroTier 2018, Nestlé and Lely jointly presented the book ‘Lean in dairy farming’, that describes a new way of looking at farm management. The book is made of two parts, an ‘Approach’ book that explains the principles of lean dairy farming and a practical ‘Guidelines’ part, which can be used to get started with this beneficial approach.