Lely strives towards circular dairy farming. The same ambition is in place for our own products and services. To set a good example we are raising the bar in sustainability:  a program has been started in which Lely commits to be carbon neutral in its own operations by 2030. We bundled initiatives from different departments and expertise to create a series called Sustainability Stories. With these stories we showcase our sustainable and circular projects. In this story we highlight the Lely Used platform.

We spoke with Leendert Huis, Taurus Business Manager at Lely.

Market for used Lely robots

Thirteen years ago, Lely started its own refurbishment quality label: Lely Taurus. An underexposed innovation! These days we cleaned, refurbished and upgraded pre-owned Lely equipment in our Maassluis factory to almost as good as new and run them through our own performance tests. In 2018 we start decentralizing the Taurus concept to save transport emissions, to be more sustainable and empower our Lely Centers via certification in the growing used equipment market at the same time.

During today's Taurus refurbishment, our local expert technicians carry out a thorough 160-point inspection of each pre-selected machine. Lely Centers have trained technicians that revise the robots locally, which could take up to 70 hours per robot to reach the quality standards. Leendert: “Taurus certified machines are equipped with up-to-date Lely technology and brand-new parts, for the farmer to buy a high quality pre-owned machine at a reduced price. In 2019 I was asked to bring the brand and used market to a next level and start the Lely Used platform to promote and show available used products worldwide. I strongly believe in a second-hand market for our products and the advantage for Farmer, Lely Center and Lely like a triple win.”

Pioneering in second-hand business

Product lifetime extension, with refurbishment, is maybe one of the most efficient and easiest ways to limit resources and propagate a company’s sustainably vision. It reduces raw virgin material inflow and work towards a more circularity behavior. This means that throughout the whole process - design, development and manufacturing – there needs to be a focus on durability, repairability and sustainability of our products: “Our customers rely on the Lely service. If we can convince them of the quality and performance of a used robot, we will close the circularity gap in an effective way – without losing our credibility.”

“We are now the only company in the industry who offers second-hand robots like this and therefore pioneering in the business.” And it's not that small anymore, Yearly, around 700 used robots are installed, and 60% of those goes to customers which are new to Lely. Simple reason for this success; our products design and service network have the power to keep it running. Leendert: “My expectation is that we double our sales of used Lely products in the coming years. So, Lely Used has a bright future and will help us to reach our commercial and sustainability goals. It will be a success because of our joined effort between Solution, Sales and Care.