78 | nzdairy DAIRY SERVICES » Canterbury Farm Services Ashburton company extends its reach Canterbury Farm Services is a dealership and service agent for Swedish-based milking system company DeLaval. Rosa Watson Ashburton-based dairy installation specialist Canterbury Farm Services is growing its reach and expanding its services to the wider Canterbury area. The company, founded in 2015, is dealership and service agent for Swedish-based milking system company DeLaval that installs tech solutions for dairy sheds along with ongoing service and repair support. They also carry out a small amount of plumbing work and have a fully stocked store with chemicals for cleaning and animal health treatments, rubberwear, detergents, clusters, dairy accessories and general spare parts. The specialist milk quality team provides an on the road service, supporting farmers with plant hygiene, product choice and compatibility, and DeLaval products delivered to your door. “Basically, we support all aspects of the dairy industry,” operations manager Francois Paulus told NZ Dairy. In April, the company expanded its operations into South Canterbury and North Otago regions, hiring two experienced technicians and an after-service specialist. By June the company will have 10 staff across the business. There was a strong focus on maintenance, pivoting the focus to being on preventative maintenance, which had been hugely successful in reducing breakdowns or system failures, Francois said. “We meet with the clients and identify what system they need in the shed.” They work alongside the client to design a service plan. “It’s basically a custom design for every customaer.” Recently the company added an advanced artificial intelligence system created by Canterbury company Livestock Visibility Solutions that automatically manages backing gate or crowd gate movements using live imaging to optimise cow flow into the dairy shed. “It addresses one of the biggest challenges our customers were seeing,” Francois said. It had the benefit of freeing up staff to be other places. “You just push the button and that’s it.” He had already installed two of the systems, the first last October, and was looking to install more. Once a system has been installed by the Canterbury Farm Services team, it provides ongoing servicing, repairing and upgrading, and a 24/7 on-call service. “The way we operate, the customer doesn’t need to worry about their milking machine. We take care of it for them. It’s peace of mind operation for the farmer.” This included making sure machines were working at their highest efficiency and safety for the animal, food and staff. “We are a partner for the farmer to be performing at their best.” There is 60 years’ experience between the technicians on the team. Francois said it was a diverse role, covering computing, plumbing and more, and a range of customers from small family-run farms to larger corporate operations. He himself joined the team in 2016 as a technician having moved to New Zealand from Luxembourg where he had worked at a DeLaval dealership. Progressing through the roles, he became head technician and then operations manager in 2018. Last year he became a co-owner. He said DeLaval had enjoyed the biggest market share in the region 20 years ago, but that had slipped over the years. “We just need to grow it back again.” He was passionate about the work they did. “I really think DeLaval has the best products on the market. “We have a lot of things that people don’t have to help them do better.” Servicing all makes & models of platform • I Beam & Roller Replacement • Platform upgrades • Backing gates EVERYONE NEEDS A BUDDY. PRACTICAL FARM MONITORING AND CONTROL FARM PUMPING – MONITORING AND CONTROL – FARM EFFLUENT Call Phil @ 027 555 3532 sales@buddyfarmsolutions.co.nz We manufacture products to make dairy farming easier, from effluent management, irrigation, milking and cleaning systems, supply parts and more. Great Quality and Great Value Specialists in the design and manufacture of variable speed Milk, Vacuum, Water, and Effluent Pump Controllers 3 YEAR WARRANTY on all our products C1912kdsema info@sema.co.nz www.sema.co.nz When it comes to implementing a milking system using VMS™ - the first question we always ask is - what’s your way? How do you like to farm? T H E W O R L D ’ S M O S T F L E X I B L E M I L K I N G R O B O T L E T ’ S D I S C OV E R YO U R WAY. 03 308 8226 canterburyfarmservices.co.nz Y O U R V M S™ Y O U R W A Y
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