Tree years ago, Robert Lunaleft Procter & Gamble to providedirection to the only end-to-endmilking equipment companyheadquartered in the U.S.
“BouMatic has thousands ofyears of combined experience in dairybut not enough in business. It neededleadership,” Luna, president of thecompany, says. With a Fortune 500background, he has the knowledgeneeded to bring innovative productsto the customer.
Lisa O’Connor, vice president ofglobal marketing, says the companyhas changed from being drivenby engineers to listening to itscustomers.
Service is now a core focus ofthe company, regardless of the size ofthe farm. Attire at the main office inMadison, Wisconsin, includes jeansand boots so anyone at any time canfit a farm visit into their day.
“We like to spend time on thefarm. That’s the only way a true leadercan understand what the customerneeds,” Luna says.
He recently created a newposition titled vice president ofcustomer experience to make suresomeone is focused on customers 100percent of the time. Customers areviewed as dealers, dairy producersand cows.
“Our mission and vision are allabout the cow,” Luna says. “The cowis a very intelligent animal. We wantto show them a level of respect byproviding solutions to them.”
One solution is to employ anoutreach person to visit farms andhelp producers with hoof care. Thisindividual looks at every hoof of everycow, implements or refines protocolsand has seen a 50 percent reduction inlameness within 45 days of his visit.
Click hereor on the image to download a PDF with images and captions about BouMatic.
Ideas don’t just come from thefarm; Luna also looks to expertiseand products from outside the dairyindustry, such as the medical field andaerospace. “An insulated industry canmiss out on a lot of new technologiesthat can be reapplied,” he says.
As the company prepares tocelebrate its 75th anniversary nextyear, it will recognize what has beenachieved in the past, but also embracea new way of doing things to take itinto the future. PD
