Edmond Harty - Dairymaster

Year: 2012

Category: International

Sector: manufacturing, technology

Dr.

Edmond Harty is the Technical Director of Kerry-based Dairymaster, a world leader in the development and manufacture of dairy farm equipment.

A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Edmond joined the family business in 1998, whilst studying for a PhD in UCD where he focused on the area of milking performance.

This focus on in-house R&D, manufacturing and the application of advancements in engineering technology has remained core to the business’ international success, and has enabled the company to be at the cutting-edge of product innovation while retaining jobs locally - a factor that is very important to Harty.

Dairymaster’s innovative product range encompasses five key areas: Milking Equipment; Automated Feeding Systems; Hydraulic Manure Scrapers; Cow Fertility Monitors; and Milk Cooling Tanks.

By milking each cow an average of one minute faster than the competition, Dairymaster’s state-of-the-art milking equipment delivers 5% more yield in scientific trials and.

In turn, this superior milk-out, natural milking and a focus on automation allows the dairy farmer to make smarter management decisions.

The range of automated feeding systems identifies each animal via a chip in the cow’s ear tag and its Smart Feeder System has been recently developed to provide custom-feeding to cows during the dry period.

Connection to The Cloud allows remote monitoring of the farm which ensures the correct allocation of energy and minerals within the animal’s feed and this subsequently results in fewer health issues for the dairy herd and improved milk yields.

Dairymaster’s hydraulic manure scrapers are recognised as market leaders and provide significant labour and cost-saving efficiencies to farmers, while its recently developed MooMonitor has revolutionised the highly-problematic and costly area of herd fertility.

This pioneering nanotechnology monitors animal behaviour on a 24-hour basis and allows those challenged cows to be identified at the earliest possible stage.

A complementary smartphone app has also been developed which allows the system to be viewed remotely.

The addition of the SwiftCool milk-cooling tank to its product portfolio has provided the dairy industry with further opportunities to improve milk production performance and can even advise the farmer when milk has been collected from his farm.

Headquartered in Causeway, County Kerry, the company also has operations in the UK and the US, and employs 220 people internationally.

Over 70% of production is exported to customers in over 40 countries worldwide.

Products: Dairymaster is regarded as the world leader in the development and manufacture of labour saving, automated devices for the global dairy industry.

Customers: Clients of the Kerry firm include wholesale and retail customers located in over 40 countries that include Ireland, UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Iran.

What role does CSR play in your business strategy? We are involved in a number of projects that range from facilitating interaction with schools and colleges, and donating equipment to Dublin Zoo, to supplying product to third world countries.

We also take cognisance of our carbon footprint when designing Dairymaster equipment and ensure that it is energy efficient.

What is the best business advice you ever received? If you have a problem, tackle it head on and deal with it.

Sort it out as quickly as possible as it will not go away by itself.

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