The technical creativity of all our employees in the Engineering department lies at the root of each and every innovation. A team of highly qualified and enthusiastic designers are constantly active, developing new products as well as refining existing equipment. In doing so, they can make use of the most advanced equipment and software. Lely engineers first started working with a 3D-computer system at the beginning of the nineties. With this system, in contrast to conventional systems, it is possible to design and test a complete machine before a prototype is constructed. It is possible very early in the design phase of a new machine to determine if this is the correct route. That saves time and money. This is something you will ultimately feel in your pocket!

If an improvement or extension appears to be feasible for the milking robot, a prototype of that component is built. This prototype is installed on the farm of one particular dairy farmer and afterwards large-scale testing takes place across a carefully selected group of test farmers. Throughout these intensive procedures, our engineers remain in close contact with the reality of agricultural practice. Before the intended modification is incorporated on all (future) robotic milking systems, tests are taking place in different countries to monitor varying situations and to ensure that only carefully tested products are introduced on your farm.

During production, the quality control of all the materials applied is crucial. Checks on the correct dimensions or material quality are constantly performed on all incoming components, even for parts suppliers. During the production process there is close monitoring to ensure that all dimensions and tolerances are correctly adhered to. Every robot is tested on critical functionality before it leaves the factory.