Kiwi ingenuity at its best
Our production capabilities and our farmer suppliers’ on-farm operations are recognised as being world-leading.
To ensure Fonterra continues to lead the way in developing innovative farm to factory practices, we work with top dairy innovators and key equipment partners to improve the way we do things. We share this expertise and knowledge with our teams around the world and work alongside our international joint-venture partners to add real commercial value to our business.
Traceability
Our New Zealand shareholders are well aware of the benefits of animal identification from a health and product safety perspective, with the country’s dairy industry already operating under a sound animal identification system.
However, we have responded to a growing requirement internationally for advanced animal identification systems by working with the Animal Identification and Traceability Working Group (AITWG), including government agencies and other industry representative groups, to develop a future focused national identification and traceability system in New Zealand. Initially for cattle and deer, the system will also be able to adapt to other livestock sectors in the future.
The system would improve New Zealand’s ability to respond during a security incursion.
Milk Collection Programme of Work (MCPOW)
In January 2006, Fonterra Milk Supply formally launched MCPOW. This involves changing the way we operate right across milk collection, from the farm to the factory to increase efficiency while maintaining high levels of service to our suppliers, Fonterra factories and external customers.
As part of MCPOW, we have increased the pipework size on all of our tankers from 75mm (three inches) to 100mm (four inches) and standardised the sampling and pumping equipment. In less than nine months we upgraded every truck in the fleet to the new national standards.
Along with the tanker changes we also upgraded the vat connections on every Fonterra vat - increasing them from a mix of different 62.5mm (2.5 inch) connections to a standard 75 mm (three inch) two-pin bayonet connection. The combined effect of these changes has been less time spent on-farm and improved efficiency for our tanker fleet. For the first time, we can send any truck to any farm to pick up milk.
The increased size of the connections, along with larger pipe work on the tankers, means that not only can the milk be collected faster from the vat, reducing the number of trucks in the fleet by three in 2006/7, but the milk also moves more slowly in the pipe, which helps to maintain product quality.
We have also installed radio frequency identification tags on our more than 14,000 vats, meaning we can automatically identify the farm, as well as the vat that the tanker is connected to. We are also able to link farm and vat information, collection dates and times, as well as collection volume and temperature to the sample at the point of collection.
RFID tags are also being incorporated into new sample vials throughout New Zealand. The SAITL laboratory has worked with Fonterra to introduce automation machinery (which uses RFID technology) for handling the new vials. This completes the link, using RFID technology from the vat to the lab.
MCPOW will also involve changes in other areas including:
- Implementing for the first time an integrated scheduling and dispatch system - Genesis
- New in-cab data and voice communication systems
- Electronic tanker activity management
- New tools for modelling milk collection scenarios
