In 2005, not long after the first ever Lely Center started, the dealership concept was introduced in Scandinavia. The first Lely Center opened in Flarken, a small village in North of Sweden. At that time, only few Astronauts already functioned in the field. These were the years of international growth   at Lely. Combining modesty with opportunism and a pragmatic approach, Scandinavia soon became one of the frontrunners in automatic milking.

An oasis of opportunities

Gunnar Resoluth, Lely Center Manager of Lely Center Flarken, looks back: “Back then, only a few farmers were spread over the area. Those farmers were really early adopters with great interest for the new technology that Lely had to offer.” The motivation of starting a Lely Center was to provide farmers with the opportunity to develop their business. Today, the area of Lely Center Flarken stretches from north of Sweden to 700 kilometers to the south.

Impressive growth

In the years that followed, the diversity amongst farmers grew as much as the number of robots. In August 2017, Lely Center Flarken installed 17 Lely Astronauts A4, the biggest farm in Sweden until that day. “Today, we support farms with one robot, but there are also farms with 20 robots. We do see a trend of farmers becoming more business driven with larger scales.” Lely Center Flarken now services 215 Astronauts in total.

Today, 24 employees are showcasing their passion for dairy and technology every day at the Lely Center. At the start of the Lely Center, the most important selection criteria were interest in and knowledge of dairy farming. Søren Vad Jensen, Sales Manager in Scandinavia: “It has been quite a journey. It’s still impressive to see how they started with few people and small installed base to this highly professional organisation.”