An optimised logistics solution that drives agriculture production throughout Finland

The smart farmer

Helping a world-leading manufacturer provide its customers with the needed service in a time-critical field.

“At DeLaval, we don’t call the warehouses FSL’s we call them ‘HIT’ warehouses, which stand for herd in trouble. The HIT warehouses make it possible to save the cows and ensure production, which creates a lot of value for DeLaval’s customers.” Jari Virrankoski

The challenge

DeLaval is a worldwide leader within dairy farm’s equipment and service, and their main challenge is to enhance their customer experience by providing their service in time. Agriculture can be a very time-sensitive field due to the fact that they are operating with livestock. If one of DeLaval’s customer’s milking equipment were to be broken, they need the DeLaval technician to come as soon as possible because it is not a matter of production loss but also a matter of animal welfare. If the cows aren’t milked the averaged three times a day due to a machinery error, it has tremendous negative aspects on the cows’ physical wellbeing and can be unable to provide milk for more than a month. Furthermore, if the cows are unable to milk, the farmer loses money and, in the worst case, will not be able to meet the promised amount of milk to their customers.

An automated production line in a dairy factory.
Farming

The beginning of cooperation

DeLaval experienced six years ago that their customers (the farmers) were unsatisfied with their service time and the farmers recommended that DeLaval talked with John Deere and asked them who their logistic spare part provider was because that seemed to work flawlessly. John Deere was already a customer at DANX and could recommend us to DeLaval Finland. The DANX/ DeLaval cooperation began six years ago.

The solution

Previously, DeLaval controlled their own stock in the warehouses and cars, but they needed a professional partner who had the experience to optimise their solution. By giving DANX control, DeLaval could just order the needed spare part from their main warehouse instead of having to store every kind of spare part in all of their vans. They wanted a professional, reliable service partner who could guarantee good results and quick delivery times. The DeLaval technicians can order the spare parts before 17.00 in the afternoon, and then DANX transports the spare parts from their main Warehouse in Germany near Hamburg, hereafter the spare parts are flown into Vantaa, where DANX distributes the spare parts to all of Finland. The spare parts are delivered straight into the technician vans, so when the DeLaval technicians start their day at 07.00, they already have the ordered spare parts in their car, and they are ready to fix the milking robots.

Close up of hands working in warehouse
DANX - the warehouse 3

Key takeways

  • A reduction in inventory resulted in less money tied up in the parts, and DeLaval could spare the expenses of having their own warehouse in Finland.
  • DeLaval has experienced a massive increase in engineer and machinery uptime due to faster repair and better animal welfare for the cows.
  • DeLaval has received improved customer experience due to its customers’ high satisfaction rate after cooperation with DANX.
  • DANX offers DeLaval a very flexible solution, which, for example, can be that DANX delivers the spare parts directly to the farm in order to help DeLaval.
  • DeLaval has experienced consolidated delivery options due to spare parts from their domestic warehouse in Vantaa but also from the big warehouse in Germany.
  • The agriculture field is time-critical, and therefore it is important for DeLaval to be in cooperation with DANX that delivers their spare part pre 07.00 in the morning.

“DANX is a trusted logistic partner that always keep their promises and makes our business much easier and has improved our customer satisfaction.”

Jari Virrankoski Vice President Market Area Eastern Europe

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