'Lean gives peace of mind to our dairy farm'

Lely and Nestlé developed the concept because dairy farms are becoming increasingly larger and more complex. "More staff, more workload and the need to improve results require a structured approach," is the vision. Hence the focus on a 'Lean working method'.

Iedema and her husband milk 400 cows in Kjellerup, Denmark, using 7 Lely A3 robots. They emigrated to Denmark in 2014 and were approached in 2015 to test the 'Dairy Wise concept' in practice.

Why did you say yes to working according to this concept?
"Working in a structured way to achieve better results suits us. It is a way of working in which you ask more of each other and communicate openly and directly. That suits us, but not everyone. The staff we work with in 2015 is partly based on this changed."

What is the difference between 'Dairy Wise working' and a 'normal' situation?
"For us, the most important differences are that we now work according to protocol. Everything goes according to fixed agreements. And just as important: we consciously involve the staff in the processes in order to make progress. With this approach we reduce labor. In 2015 We have a staff of 4, now we have 2 people and 2 weekend helpers. This makes a serious difference in labor costs."

How do you include that staff in those processes?
"The beginning was difficult, but we learned to take it step by step. We also set goals, for example lowering the cell count. To motivate the staff to do this, I mapped out what mastitis costs us and how a higher cell count increases the risk of mastitis. That kept happening. It became clear to them and it worked, we made great progress."

Doesn't a strict work process make work boring?
"To tackle this, we organize a whiteboard session on Monday. During this time we discuss to what extent the set goals have been achieved or to what extent progress has not been made. We also let the 2 permanent employees (coincidentally, they are sisters) think about new goals. That motivates them. They stay motivated precisely because they are part of the process towards better results."

Is it purely positive to work using this method?
"For us, yes. We now select our staff based on this. A disadvantage can be that it can be confrontational (especially in the beginning). You go through all the processes. This often means that you find out that things can be improved and that So you weren't actually doing well enough until then. You have to dare to take those steps."