If a car was as productive as a DeLaval VMS™ milking robot, it would need to drive around the world 205 times. Compared with a tractor, you would need to buy between four and six of them to keep up with the productivity of a DeLaval VMS™.
The very first DeLaval VMS installed in the Netherlands is still running, more than 15 years later. It has delivered about 18.2 million pounds of top quality milk, running on average 20 to 22 hours each day. And it’s still running smoothly.
The robot’s original hardware has been in place since 1999 when it was first installed. The software, compressor and computer have been updated and the robot has gone through normal service
“We know that this DeLaval VMS™ is still going strong at this farm and there’s no reason to believe that will change for at least another five years. The robot can do it and the farmer and his wife are very happy using this VMS system,“ says Johan Ter Weele, Business Development Manager,VMS at DeLaval.
DeLaval has always worked hard to find innovative ways to make dairy farming a better life for customers and their families. Today, we’re bringing the world’s most advanced robots to a new generation of dairy operators.
Some fun comparisons on the productivity of the first Netherlands VMS milking robot:
* A tractor usually runs for about 10 years and the busy ones will be used 8 hours a day. If the tractor was to be in use for as many hours as DeLaval VMS™ in Holland, it would take 40 years before it would meet the same productivity as a DeLaval VMS™. It typically would take four or five tractors to put in the same sort of hours as the VMS.
* A car driving at 42 miles per hour for the same amount of hours as a DeLaval VMS™ in full operation would need to drive almost 5 million miles. That’s the equivalent of driving around the world 205 times. If cars lasted for 185,000 miles, then you would need about 28 of them to be as productive as a VMS.
DeLaval VMS milking robots mean more milk harvested, a solid upgrade path and the sophisticated management input that only Herd Navigator can deliver.
http://www.delaval.com/en/-/Product-Information1/Milking/Systems/Automatic/
