Waikato company ‘takes drama out of build’

A Waikato company is doing something unique with dairy sheds so farmers can get on with what they do best – growing cows and grass.

Waikato Milking Systems is offering a service it believes is a first for a company in New Zealand – project managing the design and build of dairy sheds from start to finish. The company will not only design, build and install the sheds and milking systems, it will also arrange the resource consents, do the planning, excavate the site, put in the effluent pond and oversee all contractors.

‘‘It’s a build from drawing board to roof-on, and everything in between,’’ chief executive Dean Bell said. ‘‘It takes the drama and hassle out of a milking shed build for farmers.’’

Total project management is likely to become increasingly attractive in New Zealand as farm and herd sizes continue to grow, he said.

‘‘The real opportunity we see is we can control the quality of the outcome – the specifications, design, products and work of the sub-contractors. No work is going to be delivered late,’’ he said. ‘‘If we agree a contract with a farmer who wants to start milking on, say July 10, we would guarantee everything would be ready by that date.’’

The full project management service will cost extra, but Mr Bell said he believed it could be cost- neutral, as there would be no time delays or cost over-runs. The only thing farmers would have to coordinate is the initial geotechnical work and bringing power and water to the edge of the site.

The company is filming a timelapse video of a dairy shed build that it is project managing, so farmers can watch what is involved. It expects to have the video on its website before the end of the year.