Introduction
Since the first introduction of automatic milking systems much has changed. Systems are improving and farmers become more familiar with the aspects in which AM differs from conventional milking, both technically and in herd management. Research makes a major contribution to these innovations and to knowledge increase. A significant part of this research is executed within a 3 year lasting EC-funded project on Automatic Milking. Herein, seven research institutes and six industrial companies from six countries join their expertise and experience. In the country where it once all started, this symposium is organised to integrate the knowledge from this project with other studies performed all over the world. The symposium will be held on March 24-26, 2004.
