Milking parlours are a key part of any dairy business, but getting them running as efficiently as possible can be frustratingly difficult to achieve.
Identifying barriers to prime functioning can be tricky, but if you plan the management of your parlour, from your machines to your people, in a methodical way, you can improve results quickly and keep them that way.
Parlour-team training is vital
No matter which type or make of parlour you have, the crucial element is the people who operate it. Training those operatives is the key to achieving efficiency.
In a well-functioning workforce, each team member knows their specific tasks, and has the skills and confidence to deal with all eventualities, whether those are cow-centred, mechanical, or both.
Good training motivates people and teaches them to communicate their observations clearly and methodically, so that your system is monitored and fine-tuned in a timely and cost-efficient way.
In short – everybody needs to know their role and how to perform it, and should be supported with well-structured training to tackle their tasks proudly and responsibly.
Data helps – but only if you can analyse it
Training should ensure that those who are responsible know exactly what data to collect and how to analyse it. Hi-tech parlours can collect masses of data, but your operatives need to know how to scrutinise it efficiently.
A well-drilled team is able to collect and interpret data, either quantitative or qualitative, quickly and objectively. Nurture and value your team’s expertise and professionalism formally. Ultimately, it will save you time and money.
Don’t forget your spares
You also need to make sure that your spares stock is kept up to date, so that breakdowns don’t cause bottlenecks. And for that you need well-trained operatives who know how to trouble-shoot the machines they use, and are responsible for keeping the spares store correctly stocked and quickly accessible.
Train with the best
Promar takes the issue of staff management and training incredibly seriously, and invests a lot of time, money and effort into ensuring that the best practice is clearly communicated to farm staff.
We have specialists who are on hand to deliver assessment, collaboration, advice and formal training on all aspects of dairy businesses.
One example of this is our access to the highly qualified Genus ABS Milking Systems Team. Each representive is part of an exclusive group of people in the UK to have been accredited to Parlour Safe Cat 3 (Dairy Engineering Technician) standard.
Already highly skilled in all aspects of testing milking parlours and advising on parlour management, the Cat 3 award means that they are qualified, for farm assurance purposes, to
- supervise and train parlour teams in all aspects of best practice
- run milking-time assessments
- perform diagnostics and problem-solving assessments
The Milking Systems Team provides meticulous testing of all types of milking parlours and will set your system so that it works at its most efficient, and can coach your staff to the highest standard on how to keep your system in tip-top condition.
Contact Russell Needham on 07971 119 086 for a no-obligation discussion on how to improve your parlour efficiency, and find out how empower your team to run your milking parlour to its optimum.
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