7 September 2026 CEO Maarten van Raaij on how the Merlin 2+ keeps dairy farms future proof
Fullwood has launched the Merlin 2+, the next generation of its flagship product. Developed in close collaboration with dairy farmers and dealers, the Merlin 2+ continues to focus on cow well-being and aims to further enhance the features that make the robust stainless steel milking robot one of the most recognized on the market: high milk yield, low operating costs, and user-friendliness.
The development of the new Merlin 2+ was overseen by Lisa de Roos, Fullwood’s Manager Engineering, while CEO Maarten van Raaij was closely involved in the various development phases. They explain why Fullwood’s renewed milking robot is a logical step in the company’s growth ambition.
Growth ambition
“At Fullwood, cow health is paramount,” Maarten says. “Comfortable and relaxed cows simply perform better. “We also aim to deliver a milking robot that handles as much of the daily workload as possible, giving the dairy farmer more freedom. Over the last ten years, the Merlin has become the embodiment of these principles: a healthy, relaxed cow on the one hand, and a satisfied dairy farmer on the other. With the Merlin 2+ we’re meeting the needs of dairy farmers in the dozens of countries where we are active even better. The launch of this updated version aligns perfectly with Fullwood’s growth ambition. We can continue to provide our customers with a top-of-the-line machine, while our R&D team is running at full speed, and many more exciting developments are on the way.”
Refinement and improvement
Lisa: “When developing the Merlin 2+, we aimed for refinement and improvement rather than radical change. Therefore, dairy farmers can still count on the features for which they appreciate our milking robot: high milk yield, low operating costs, and user-friendliness.” Despite the familiar nature of this new generation of Fullwood milking robots, a significant number of technical and practical improvements have been implemented. “The Merlin 2+ has an even more logical layout, both under the hood and in terms of operation”, Lisa says. “It is even more intuitive and easy to handle and moreover, even less maintenance needs to be performed.” She points out, that a large project like the introduction of a new generation of a key product, is an excellent opportunity to focus on your wish list backlog. “There were a number of requests from farmers and dealers, and we used this momentum to incorporate them. Where there used to be one large door for instance, there are now two small doors. Relatively small adjustments, but they do make a difference because you now need even less space for our milking robot.”
Future proof
Maarten: “With the Merlin 2+, we contribute to future-proof business operations of dairy farmers in the numerous countries in which we’re present. For instance, new software updates are easy to install. A really important distinguishing feature is its backward compatibility. If you, as a dairy farmer, already have one or more of our robots, you can simply add the Merlin 2+ to the stable, without having to replace previous models.” Lisa concludes: ” Fullwood is on the move, and the new and improved Merlin 2+ is tangible proof of how we translate our own insights, but above all input from our dealers and customers, into innovation and improvement. Stay tuned!”
