Lely strives towards circular dairy farming. To set a good example, we are raising the bar in sustainability as well as within our way of working. A programme has already begun in which Lely commits to becoming carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030. We have bundled initiatives from different departments and expertise to create a series called Sustainability Stories. With these stories, we plan to showcase our sustainable and circular projects. In this story we highlight two examples of the triple win that can be realised through value sourcing.  

We spoke to Eva Leeuwenkamp, Continuous Improvement Procurement & Supply manager. 

New ways of working

One of the main requirements of procurement is availability. The beginning of 2023 marked a challenging period for the availability of parts. The overall global supply chain took a big hit during the post-Covid years. Traditional ways of operating were no longer sufficient, and we therefore had to look for other solutions. By rethinking the material specifications, combined with proposition development, Lely was able to create more possibilities for sourcing materials. This led to a triple win. ‘The new specifications for material turn out to have created greater availability, a reduction in cost to 77% of previous prices, and a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 11%’, says Eva.

Reduction of CO₂ emissions 

Another example of a procurement requirement is risk management. One way to manage risk is to have multiple suppliers, thereby becoming less dependent on a single supplier. In the search for multiple suppliers for the water tank assembly for the Discovery SW, we discovered an additional benefit that was in line with our sustainability ambitions. By redesigning a specific part of the water tank to facilitate the use of a second supplier for the part, we were able to reduce three key aspects of the process: the material used, the welding and the laser cutting times. 

Eva explains: ‘These three changes meant that less energy is used to produce the part. This led directly to an 11% reduction in the cost price and a 8,9% reduction in CO₂ emissions. In addition, the original goal of spreading risk in our supply chain was also achieved. We call this a triple win: lower cost, lower CO₂ emissions and lower risk’.  

These two cases are examples of our new way of working. These will lead to further research into reducing CO₂ emissions through value sourcing.