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The basis of success is the best equipment

‘The basis of being successful is having

the best available

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equipment’

JF McKenna is a major supplier of housing solutions for the poultry industry in the UK and Ireland. They represent, among other companies, Fancom. ‘Good products and good people to work with. They have the tools for the demands of modern poultry farming.’

‘O ur relationship dates back to about 25 years ago’, says Brian Moxon, Sales Manager at distributor JF McKenna in the UK and Ireland. Brian is based in the UK and project manager Amber Oates in Ireland. ‘Apart from Fancom, we distribute other equipment including Lubing drinkers, Hato lighting systems, Chore-Time housing systems and more. Hence, we can off er complete turnkey packages, tailored to the individual needs of our customers.

Dedicated company

‘From the beginning of our partnership with Fancom, we began supplying ventilation systems to commercial mushroom growers in Ireland. We gradually expanded our activities to the pig and poultry industries, both in the UK and Ireland. Over the years, we have installed their systems at customers throughout both countries.’ ‘The staff are good people and we very much enjoy working together with them’, Brian continues. Both Brian and Amber agree, ‘It is truly a dedicated company in smart farming solutions nowadays and that’s what makes them specialists in this fi eld. Apart from climate control, this includes feed automation and biometrical systems. Their focus is on highly automated systems which are permanently collecting data on which to build information.’

24/7 control

‘On the poultry side of JF McKenna, we supply complete solutions for poultry house automation’, Brian continues. ‘This includes the iFarming (Intelligent Farming) and Smart farming management system from Fancom, which gives us 100% insight into and 24/7 control of the farm. This solution keeps the farm and fl ock in top condition. It automatically and continually provides data about climate control in the houses and automatic feeding systems. The smart farming system also continuously monitors the behaviour of the birds, providing insight into their behaviour every moment of the day. It visualises and analyses this data.’ Reducing power usage is an important topic. ‘Good equipment control together with the use of energy saving fans optimise the systems power usage though the year.’ ‘The basis of being successful is having

Not just a business relationship, but also friendship

BRIAN MOXON

the best available equipment to bring to the market and a good relationship with the supplier in terms of communication, support, sales and logistics. That’s a key asset they bring to us.’

No cherry picking

‘We represent their entire programme, no “cherry picking.”’ Hence, we are able to install complete houses, in which Fancom plays an important part’, Brian says. ‘These highly automated systems demand in-depth knowledge and understanding of the customer requirements in order to get the best benefit from it. After all, the computer does a multitude of tasks. For that reason we provide training and support to our customers. Not just that, we also bring study groups together to allow our customers to share and exchange knowledge and experiences. All with the objective to get the best out of these hightech systems.’ ‘These have been provided to us by Fancom over the past 25 years, which has led to not just a business relationship, but also to friendship. A solid basis for continuing our longstanding collaboration.’

Brian: ‘Currently, we have about 750 customers to which we supply directly. In the poultry business, our focus is on broiler production nowadays.’

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