By including remote monitoring on every TURBOSPRAY unit, Automated Dairy is able to ensure reliable operation by proactively identifying issues and optimizing maintenance across their entire fleet of equipment.
Delivering exceptional service with fewer truck rolls
Approaching over 100 sprayers across rural barns in the Western United States, Automated Dairy uses equipment monitoring to maximize the efficiency of their service team.
“With the data we get, we don’t have to send someone out every day to check on the system. We can get a bill of health right on our phones,” says Higley.
One way they use this data is to identify when a TURBOSPRAY system’s dip solution tank is due for a top up. “We’re monitoring how many gallons of dip we have at each dairy and we send out text and email alerts to dispatch our service team when it’s time for a refill,” says Higley. “Ultimately, this helps us ensure that our units are ready to support our customers 24/7.”
In addition to monitoring for dispatch, Automated Dairy uses alerts and control features for remote troubleshooting. Logan Kinghorn, research and development specialist, explains how it works: “Under normal operation, the level of dip solution in each supply tank should decrease at a steady rate. If we see anything other than that, it’s a great indicator that something’s not working. We get alerts on sudden changes in usage and we can trend that data to immediately start diagnosing the problem. For example, if we see a sudden drop, there could be a leak in the system, whereas if the rate is slower than expected, there might be a blocked valve. We’re also able to turn each sprayer on or off and even switch which solution is being sprayed just by flipping a switch from a phone or computer,” Kinghorn says.
Optimizing maintenance with data and analytics
To help maximize uptime, Automated Dairy is also building a data-backed preventive maintenance (PM) plan. “By tracking the number of cows that pass through our system, we can start to understand the average number of cycles a unit goes through before a part needs to be replaced,” says Higley. “Instead of running on a time-based schedule, we can be much more precise and say, ‘Alright, this unit has had 2 million cycles, it’s time to send our service team out for PM to replace the solenoid valve.’"
"This will ultimately help us prevent unplanned downtime and save time on unnecessary service visits.” In addition to the time it saves their team, this will help Automated Dairy better align maintenance and part replacements with their customers’ planned downtime. “Every minute of time we can give back to our customers means greater throughput and more time to complete important work, like barn sanitation,” says Kinghorn. “Being able to schedule a service visit during our customers’ planned downtime is a huge win for us.”
