--- title: "Ben Vanderbilt: A lean, robot herd-managing machine" description: SwissLane Dairy Farms now milks 500 cows in a new freestall barn with eight Lely Astronaut robotic milking systems. image: https://www.lelylife.com/hubfs/Cows_468x314.jpg --- - [Home](https://www.lelylife.com/) - [About](https://info.lely.com/about) - [Contact](https://www.lely.com/us/about-lely/contact/) - [Coffee Talks](https://coffeetalks.lelylife.com) - [Lely.com](https://www.lelyna.com) [automatic-feeding-system](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/automatic-feeding-system), [cow-health](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/cow-health), [feed-intake](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/feed-intake), [feeding](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/feeding), [lely-vector](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/lely-vector), [milk-quality](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/milk-quality), [milk-yield](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/milk-yield), [robotic-dairy](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/robotic-dairy), [smart-feeding](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/smart-feeding) [Listen Now](https://www.lelylife.com/automated-feeding-delivers-producer-proven-results?hsLang=en-us) # Ben Vanderbilt: A lean, robot herd-managing machine Posted by [Team Lely](https://www.lelylife.com/author/team-lely) on Oct 21, 2014 ![Team Lely](https://www.lelylife.com/hubfs/PersonaVideo/logo2.png) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) This article recently appeared in [Progressive Dairyman](http://www.progressivedairycanada.com/topics/management/ben-vanderbilt-a-lean-robot-herd-managing-machine).  *Most people consider searching Craigslist for a bike, couch or even a roommate. Not many can claim that an advertisement on this website is how they began a career as a manager for a 500-cow robot-milking herd.* *Similarly, it’s not typical for a dairy owner to hire a new herd manager who has very little cow experience. For SwissLane Dairy Farms in Alto, Michigan, this is exactly what happened. And it was a perfect fit.* *In 2011, SwissLane Dairy Farms, a 2,000-cow operation, had plans to shift about 500 cows to a new freestall barn with eight automatic milking units. In looking for a herd manager for this new facility, the owners placed an ad on Craigslist and came across candidate Ben Vanderbilt.* *Ben’s cow experience was limited, but his manufacturing experience as a production supervisor for an aerospace facility was promising. The owners of SwissLane Dairy Farms were not only looking to become more labour-efficient through utilizing their new robots, they were also looking for someone who could think “lean.” Ben Vanderbilt was the man for the job.* *From the start of Ben’s career at the dairy farm nearly three years ago, he has acquired “cow sense” through the owners’ mentoring and has brought a wealth of knowledge from his five-year manufacturing career and put it to work at SwissLane Dairy Farms.* *“The way I put it, I was manufacturing electronic circuit cards before, and here we’re manufacturing milk. The way you manage and utilize robots is similar; hitting production numbers is all quite the same,” Ben says.* *The manager says his on-farm management style has been heavily influenced by his past. “The company I came from was very lean-driven, so much that we had our own lean department with about seven people overseeing it.* This article was written by Lely Marketing Coordinator, Torie Noellsch. [Read more.](http://www.progressivedairycanada.com/topics/management/ben-vanderbilt-a-lean-robot-herd-managing-machine) Tags: [Dairy Producers](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/dairy-producers), [Farm Management](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/farm-management), [Live Life Lely](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/live-life-lely), [Robotic Milking](https://www.lelylife.com/topic/robotic-milking) Submit your email to subscribe to Lely North America Blog Notifications! 1948 Lely Parkway Pella, Iowa 50219 641-621-2700 [![Share on facebook](https://www.lelylife.com/2014/10/(missing%20asset%20'facebook-color.png'))](https://www.facebook.com/LelyNorthAmerica/) [![Share on twitter](https://www.lelylife.com/2014/10/(missing%20asset%20'twitter-color.png'))](https://twitter.com/dairyrobot) [![Share on instagram](https://www.lelylife.com/2014/10/(missing%20asset%20'instagram-color.png'))](https://www.instagram.com/dairyrobot) [![Share on youtube](https://www.lelylife.com/2014/10/(missing%20asset%20'youtube-color.png'))](https://www.youtube.com/user/LelyDairyLife) [![Share on bloglink](https://www.lelylife.com/2014/10/(missing%20asset%20'bloglink-color.png'))](https://www.lelylife.com)