Dairy farming is an essential part of the agricultural industry, and dairy barns are the backbone of the business. Dairy facilities come in various shapes and sizes, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to designing and building them. However, streamlining the dairy barn design process can benefit producers in building a great barn for their herds.

Dr. Mario Mondaca talks about his methodology for streamlining the design process in his webinar, Your Barn is Not That Special, and That is Okay! Listen to his journey to try and parametrize barns into the most essential facility parameters and how they affect ventilation design.

How Can We Design the Best Barn for Your Herd?

VES-Artex is on their initial release of a CPQ tool to help improve the speed and accuracy of all their designs. CPQ stands for Configure, Price, and Quote. SalesForce states, “Based on predetermined specifications for configurations, customizations, specializations, and discounts, CPQ software prevents many of the traditional “sticking points” between Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply chain.” This tool not only streamlines efficiencies for the internal business but also for the end customer.

Designing a suitable ventilation system for dairy barns is a complex task as it largely depends on the characteristics of each barn. To address this challenge, Dr. Mondaca has developed a tool that can identify a barn's core design parameters and generate a 2-D layout that accurately meets the ventilation design requirements for ensuring animal welfare. In addition to improving ventilation design, Dr. Mondaca's work could also contribute to better facility designs through statistical analysis. By studying how physiological responses in the herd are affected by different facility design decisions, we can optimize barn solutions to enhance cow comfort and performance.

Why is Standardization Important for the Barn’s Design Process?

Even though every dairy barn is unique, summarizing them with standard parameters allows us to draw a barn layout in real time and have a meaningful discussion about potential design options and solutions with the producer. This can make it simpler for producers to compare different barns and make informed purchasing decisions.

A streamlined sales process is beneficial for more than just ventilation. A streamlined design process makes it easier for producers to compare different barns and make informed purchasing decisions. This can also lead to a more streamlined sales process for other areas of VES-Artex’s available solutions, while still including essential barn features and designs like the following:

• Ventilation products
• Cooling solutions
• Lighting types
• Steel options

Streamlining dairy barns can provide numerous benefits to dairy farmers worldwide. It can make it easier for producers to design and build their barns, ensure the design meets the recommendations for animal welfare and productivity, and streamline the sales process. Be sure to check out one of your VES-Artex Dealers to see how easy it is to develop your barn!