Voice of the COWstomer

In 2014, I attended the Shingo Conference in Ohio. This was my first opportunity to network with and learn from continuous improvement practitioners and leaders from all over the world. I was determined to get as much learning and experience as possible.

Throughout the week, I attended presentations, roundtables, and networking events. By the end of the week, I felt I had acquired as much classroom knowledge as I could handle. I was ready to get away from the conference hall and visit one of three companies that offered benchmarking visits: Goodyear Tire and Rubber, the Cleveland Clinic, and the John Amstutz Dairy. I had heard of the first two. They were world renowned for their application of Lean. But a dairy? I was intrigued. I decided to visit them.

Fifteen other conference-goers boarded a bus for the 1 ½ hour trip to what looked like a typical farm out in the country. At first, it seemed that way. We were met by a farmer in coveralls. He told us how he was applying Lean to his dairy farm, with the help of a consultant. He was initially skeptical that Lean could be applied to his situation and thought all of the automation he had was helping him be as productive as possible.

Through study and observation, they realized that many of the practices on the farm were counter-productive. The automation actually made conditions worse for the cows. In a 24-hour period, they converted the milking parlor (where the cows get milked) to a non-automated system, that was healthier and easier on the cows. The conversion had to be completed quickly, or the cows would get sick from not being milked. It was like a Kaizen event on steroids.

Once the changes were made, production went up, sickness went down, and the cows were able to give milk for a longer period of their lives.

Essentially, they made all changes to optimize the experience for the cows. They found out a number of things from just listening to what their cows had to “say”:

- The straw that the cows were sleeping on was uncomfortable. It was replaced with a softer, recycled material, and the cows got more restful sleep.

- The milking machines were hurting the cows’ udders. When they were attached, the cows would “dance.” This indicated they were in pain.

- Air was being vented poorly and the cows were “complaining” by mooing a lot. The fans were repositioned to move the methane out of the breathing space and the cows calmed down.

Then the farmer said something that I’ll never forget: “Cows don’t lie. They tell you exactly what they think.” That is so true and applies to the customers and people we serve. We should be actively seeking out feedback on the changes we make. If we get the honesty of cows, we’ll design better systems for our customers.