Lean Farming and Visualisation
A key lean tool is visual management. This is about having real time, live information available and visual for the team to use to manage a process or area. This helps anyone immediately see what is happening and make real time decisions based on actual data. It also helps to immediately spot problems and therefore react quickly to any issues.
Lean at Clovelly Farm
Mark Miers and his team and Clovelly Farm in Tasmania have very impressive visual management boards set up for every calf pen enabling them to track key information about each calf in every pen. This helps to have excellent control of their calving period, manage calfs efficiently, effectively and importantly to a high quality as every calf can be traced so that nothing is missed.
Lean Farm using Visual Boards
Even a simple board in front of each pen would be a good start to visually tracking your calfs, ensuring that they are cared for correctly. Calf rearing is a vital part of a successful herd and ensuring the first few weeks are done thoroughly is a big part of it.