[ALPRO Feeding]  [ALPRO Activity Meter]  [Maestro for ALPRO]

The user friendly ALPRO™ system.

professional milk production and control.

Improve the quality of your management by receiving the correct information at the right time and in the right place. Quality, flexibility and availability describe the ALPRO™ Management System.

Dairy farmers have always invested in living capital, with all the risks and opportunities it involves. Today, the development of production technology has advanced to the point where production risks can be minimized, and the possibilities for achieving good profitability can be calculated on very safe grounds.

With DeLaval's ALPRO System, milk producers have total control over a herd of up to 2,800 cows. Each hour, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, you have access to all important information and data on each cow, enabling you to increase the yield of each animal, optimise feed consumption, manage production with less effort, and cut your overall operating costs.

In addition to a high production level, the ALPRO system will assist you in keeping your cows, heifers and calves in constant good health. You will have a well functioning programme for feeding and be able to create an inspiring working environment for everyone involved in milk production.

One of the major advantages of the ALPRO system is its flexibility. You can start on a low level by investing for example, in the milking system, which gives you the exact information on the milk yield of each cow. If you want to add a central processor with a comprehensive breeding calendar, automatic identification and controlled feeding, you can do it at your own pace, to suit your farm's special circumstances.

DeLaval have been very careful about designing the ALPRO system to be user-friendly, easy to understand and simple to operate. You don't have to be a computer expert to handle the system. All functions are designed to fit in with your routines as a milk producer. Everything follows a logical pattern to simplify your daily work.

You can rely on the dependability of the ALPRO system. The system is designed to function around the clock, all year round. The system has also been especially designed to withstand the high humidity and aggressive gasses that are normally present in the dairy unit environment.

In reality, a complete ALPRO system consists of few components. The different functions of the system are integrated in a small number of units providing total control over milking, feeding and breeding.

The Processor - The brain of the entire ALPRO system - has been specially designed by DeLaval and is therefore maximized for its purpose and user friendliness.

The processor has a capacity for handling up to 2,800 cows, allowing you to store and handle basic data on milking, feeding and breeding, as well as necessary system data for each animal during the entire lactation cycle. The information is presented on a bright, high contrast display that is easy to read. The processor can also be connected to a printer for printouts, which are very useful in your daily work. If you want to record or view data while you are working in the parlour. Most of the information is only two keystrokes away on the processor.

It is adapted and programmed for the specific type of milking parlour, cluster and cluster removal system you are using.

The processor is designed for maximum operational reliability, 24 hours a day, in the dairy environment. That's why it has no more functions than the ones you need. It has no moving parts like a fan or a disc drive. The processors memory is secured by back-up batteries, and back-up copies of information are stored on memory cards. The processor is also designed to handle power surges or dips. All of these features have been built-in to make the processor as robust and reliable as possible.

MPC (Milking Point Controller) - The MPC is the heart of the ALPRO System. Milking can be controlled on different levels with the ALPRO System: Milking Stand Alone, Milking System and the completely integrated Milking and Feeding System. What ever the level, the MPC forms the heart of the system.

If you have automatic identification, the portal antenna will identify the cow by its individual transponder, and the number will be shown on the next available MPC. You can also enter the cows number manually on the MPC's keypad if you choose to start with a system without auto ID.

From the MPC, you control the entire milking process. On the MPC a warning lamp lights up at the appointed symbol if a cow is not to be milked, or if the milk is not to be put into the tank. In these cases, the cluster release will be blocked until the alarm override button is pressed. Warning lamps also show if the cow has not eaten properly, or if the cow has not produced as much milk as expected. You can also enter four user-defined reminder codes that could warn you if the cow is difficult or slow , for example. In addition there is a large, visible lamp on the MPC that indicates when the cow is finished milking.

The MPC is a high-capacity unit and very reliable in operation. It has a back-up battery so all information is stored in the event of a power failure.

You can also report your own observations and store them in the database. Certain functions require codes to limit access.

From the MPC you can also control the parlour gates for cow traffic, and if you have a cutter gate connected, the system can automatically separate cows requiring special attention.

Also available is the Maestro MPC, which is designed to incorporate all the Alpro automation components into a single, stainless steel cabinet.

Identification - DeLaval's well proven identification system means fast and reliable identification of all your cows. As each cow wears a transponder around its neck, the system can automatically keep track of the herd. The cows are identified at the feeding stations and at the portal antennas by the milking stalls. The system uses the tried and tested DeLaval transponder system, which has been in use since 1975.

The Milk Meter - With a high level of precision, the ALPRO FloMaster Pro™ milk meter weighs the milk. The meter is insensitive to foam and differences in milk composition. The compact design fits well into all types of parlour stalling. Vacuum drop is negligible and cleaning is easy, normally with no extra water or detergent. Calibration and servicing are very simple, taking only a few minutes. The calibration can be checked with water.

FloMaster FF™ - The next generation has arrived. FloMaster FF is the most advanced milk meter on the market today. It measures using advanced infrared light technology, and with no wearing parts will only need a minimum of maintenance.

Alpro Windows™ - You can easily connect a PC to the ALPRO system and let ALPRO Windows retrieve and present information from the processor. You can sit comfortably in your office, monitor activities and plan your daily work.

The PC's large display allows you to view more data about your cows at the same time. The program also produces diagrams on the latest year of milk production for each cow. In graphs you can see where each cow is in the breeding cycle and easily register insemination or other breeding activities.

With the PC you can also transfer data from the ALPRO System into other programmes for book-keeping, administration and other functions (ISO communication protocol). A printer can be connected to the PC to produce convenient printouts of your data.

Tailor the system to fit your needs

Milking Stand Alone - At this level the MPC controls pulsation, take off and milk yield recording. There is no connection to portal identification or warnings. Each MPC stores milking data for up to 20 cows. If you prefer to start in the most basic way, the flow indicator can be used instead of the milk meter. All functions will still be available, except automatic milk yield recording.

Milking System - All MPC's are connected to the processor by the system bus. The processor controls the cow data-base containing milking and breeding information. The portal Identification can also be connected to the system bus. The MPC can also control in-parlour feeding systems (optional). The ALPRO Activity Meter can now be added to the system if required.

Milking and Feeding System - With the feeding system connected, as well as Out Of Parlour Feeding, Calf feeding and Feed Wagons, a number of new management functions become available, such as the feed alarm on the MPC, and calculations of feed efficiency.

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