AGCO Corp. is one of the largest manufacturers of farming, home and garden and lifestyle equipment in the world.

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Even with the world economy looking bleak for the foreseeable future, AGCO Corp. continues to grow. Hans-Bernd Veltmaat, senior vice president of manufacturing quality, says as long as the world population continues to rise, there will be a need for professional farming equipment.

This means AGCO – one of largest manufacturers of farming, home and garden, and lifestyle equipment in the world – will continue to fill orders for its products at a pace that could surpass 2008’s expected record-setting $8.5 billion in sales.

AGCO was founded in 1990 by a group of four senior leaders through
a management buyout of Deutz Allis Corp. from German-based Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG. KHD had purchased portions of Allis-Chalmers agricultural equipment business five years ago.    

Today, the company manufactures products under four brands that cater to different market sectors: professional farming and recreational home and garden applications. AGCO is headquartered in Duluth, Ga., and has North American facilities in Hesston, Kan.; Jackson, Minn.; and Beloit, KS., which combine for 3,200 employees.

Four Core Brands
Veltmaat says AGCO differentiates itself in three ways. First, AGCO strives to bring a higher level of technology to the farming industry. The company consistently invests in new technology for its products, its manufacturing processes and in the engineering of its new products.    

Second, AGCO is the only company of its size that is focused strictly on the agriculture sector. “If we look from that perspective, AGCO is the biggest agricultural machinery supplier in the world,” Veltmaat says.   

Third, AGCO operates four core global brands that cater to different market segments. Massey Ferguson, with more than 160 years of experience, is the most widely sold tractor brand in the world, AGCO says. Fendt, based in Germany, is a market leader in Europe in technology and engineering of professional farming equipment, according to AGCO.    

Valtra, based in Finland, holds its market position in the Nordic region with innovation and customer service, AGCO says. Valtra is also established in the growing Brazilian market, AGCO adds.

High Standards
Veltmaat says customers demand quality and usability from AGCO’s machinery. These products must be reliable and run with little to no breakdowns while being used. To meet these demands, AGCO has  comprehensive quality measures and controls put in place at each of its manufacturing facilities. Quality is built into every stage of manufacturing of the products. AGCO uses a series of internal quality gates, as well as subsequent tracking of products through the lifecycle of use by customers.

Beginning with issue detection in the assembly lines, it also includes end of line inspection, pre-delivery inspection before shipment to dealers, as well as dealer inspection prior to delivery to the customer. After delivery, AGCO continues to collect field performance data in order to quickly identify and solve any customer issues.     

“The key for good quality is to feed these measures back in the shortest possible loop to the individual causing the quality issue,” Veltmaat adds. “This approach works to drive ownership of quality down to each em­ployee and helps prevent future issues.”  

In 2008 and 2009, the company will spend the equivalent of $220 million to increase productivity and capacity at its Fendt facility in Germany. Veltmaat says AGCO has also entered a joint venture with a Russian partner to manufacture diesel engines there, an initiative that will be up and running by the summer of 2009.