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AGRICULTURE EDITION 43 AMBIC EQUIPMENT | position in the field of livestock health management products, without losing its tight niche market focus. Alongside investment in product design, there has been significant investment in patents in order to try to protect Ambic's innovations from imitation – a growing challenge in the global market where, sadly, not all players respect the rules of the game. Leverage At a time when it has become fashionable to outsource functions in order to drive down cost, Ambic has identified strategic value in retaining key functions in-house; developing its expertise and leveraging this across the business to drive innovation as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This means that value is added at each stage in the value chain, from the initial product concept to distribution of the final product, to drive profitability. Key functions in the business include product development, tool making, plastic moulding, product assembly, quality assurance, marketing, sales, accounts and administration. More recently, Ambic has widened its expertise with strategic acquisitions, which have added momentum to its growth and expansion by in-sourcing know-how and IP. This skills base is seen to be of strategic importance to the future growth of Ambic, and will help it shorten the time to market for new product developments that are required to meet emergent customer needs. In short, raw materials arrive at one end of the building, in the form of plastic granules, and are then combined with design expertise. Finished products are shipped out to customers by the despatch department at the other end of the building. During this process, Ambic is responsible for having added the vast majority of the added value. » M A S T I T I S – T H E D A I R Y F A R M E R ' S W O R S T E N E M Y Mastitis is the inflammation of the mammary gland and udder tissue, and is a major endemic disease of dairy cattle. It is a complex disease, involving both contagious and environmental factors, which spread the disease. It is expensive for the farmer in terms of discarded milk, lost milk yield, veterinary costs and culling of chronically infected animals. Mastitis prevention Practices such as close attention to milking hygiene, good housing management and effective dairy cattle nutrition to promote good cow health are essential in helping to control mastitis. Teat sanitisation Teat sanitisation is the cornerstone of good mastitis prevention. A variety of sanitising chemicals are used to treat cows' teats after and now also increasingly before milking. Teat-sanitisation application systems fall into three broad categories, each of which has distinct characteristics and advantages in certain applications. Teat dipping is commonly used for smaller herds, where good teat coverage across a wide labour skill range is required, and lends itself to increasingly popular barrier-type products, which also help to condition the cows' teats. Teat spraying is generally quicker than teat dipping, and is often favoured for treating larger herds, where labour cost is a factor. However, chemical consumption is generally higher and the effectiveness of the treatment depends up the skill and diligence of the operator. Teat foaming. The growth in the practice of pre-dipping, driven by the desire to address the challenge of environmental mastitis, has seen the emergence of foaming chemicals, which often form part of the preparation routine prior to milking. Teamwork Key to the success of this integrated business model is the achievement of effective teamwork across all the functions in the business, to ensure that the synergies of the in-house functions are all leveraged to maximum strategic advantage. For example, the product development team includes not only dedicated research and