Reynolds Farm, Sandbach: A Strong Partnership with Lely

For Andrew, Joy and Jack Wright of Reynolds Farm, Sandbach, Cheshire, robotic milking has been a key part of the business for more than a decade. The family installed three Lely Astronaut A4 milking robots in March 2015 and, following an expansion in cow numbers, added a fourth A4 in May 2021. Today, the farm is run by Andrew and Joy, alongside their son Jack, who joined the business around 18 months ago.

When it came to choosing a robotic milking supplier, Andrew says the decision was largely driven by aftersales support.

"We chose Lely Center Midlands because of the service and back-up – that was 90% of the reason. The other 10% was because Lely only specialises in robotics. They don't do parlours, they've been in the robotic milking game the longest, and that gave us confidence."

More than ten years on, the Wright family remains impressed with the level of support they receive from both the Astronaut and Barn & Feed service teams.

"All of the engineers are very knowledgeable about the products, and they're always happy to talk us through little jobs over the phone. That's something we really appreciate because we're hands-on people and don't mind changing parts ourselves when needed. Being able to learn simple, farmer-friendly fixes is a real benefit."

For Jack, who is relatively new to the business, the support has been equally valuable.

"The engineers have always been very helpful whenever I've needed to call them, especially if Mum and Dad have been away. They're easy to deal with and always willing to help."

The family also values the local presence of the Lely engineers.

"Geography-wise, the spread of engineers works really well for us because they're all local. Response times are good and they understand the area."

Andrew adds with a smile, "We always treat the engineers with respect, and Joy's cakes during servicing visits seem to go down very well!"

Reliability has also been a major advantage. Reflecting on robot performance, Andrew notes that breakdowns are few and far between.

"The last breakdown we had was around seven months ago, which says a lot about the reliability of the robots."

The farm operates on Lely's Support Package service plan, which the family feels offers the right balance of professional servicing and the flexibility to carry out day-to-day maintenance themselves.

"The Support Package works for us because we only pay for servicing. I'm hands-on with the robots and like being able to do bits myself," says Andrew. "The robots still run today as well as they did when they were first installed, and we believe that's because they're serviced properly every time."

He compares the robots to any other critical piece of farm machinery:

"Just like a tractor needs servicing, so do the robots that milk our cows 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Since the introduction of Lely Center Midlands field service management software (IFS), the family has noticed another improvement.

"The approach to servicing and aftersales support has continued to improve and we've actually seen even fewer breakdowns as a result."

For the Wright family, the combination of reliable technology, knowledgeable local engineers and consistent servicing has made robotic milking a long-term success. Their experience demonstrates how strong support and proactive maintenance can help robotic systems continue performing at their best for years after installation.