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Tractor manufacturer Massey Ferguson appears to be hitting a sweet spot.
The company claims that in 2018 it increased sales by 13%, leading to a plan to push tractor and header sales by 15% and 8% respectively.
On the tractor front, the targets will require the key production plant at Beauvais in France to increase output from 14,000 to 18,000 units per year -- an increase of 30%.
The parent company AGCO says it will make substantial investments in land and infrastructure over the next five years.
Interestingly, logistics will be a key aspect of the increases. In 2014, about 7000 parts were required at the plant to build its tractor ranges. This will need to rise to 20,000 items by 2020, the company says.
The need to streamline parts sourcing will see external parts supplies being allocated their own spaces on site and the likelihood of their own on site sales teams.
On a broader front, MF is also looking at providing customers with more choice and customisation options for their tractors. This will be different from the group’s Valtra Unlimited Studio at the Suolahti plant in Finland, probably using a dedicated off line area for the addition of options.
Another new move will be remanufacturing of tractor transmissions to complement engines now being remanufactured in Finland. The facility will be available for newer models and older units like the 3000 series.
At Beauvais the transmissions will be stripped out, cleaned, renovated then marketed with a 12-month warranty. The purchase price will be roughly 40% of a new unit.
AGCO has released details of the new SB.1436DB small square, or conventional baler, that rather unconventionally, produces two rows of bales per field pass, so doubling the output over a traditional single baler producing 14-by-18-inch bales.
Recently launched to complement the existing DM 8612 TL and DM 9614 TL machines, Massey Ferguson has added the heavy-duty 9614 TL and 10114 TL butterfly mowers to its DM range, with working widths of 9.6m and 10.1m respectively.
As a sign of the times, a sharp downturn in the global demand for tractors and machinery has seen some of the global players announcing lacklustre half yearly results.
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