AGCO and SA Service Agricole announced last month the construction of the dealer’s new facility in Sainte-Marie, Quebec. The expansion will leverage AGCO’s cutting-edge Galvanize design concept to highlight AGCO’s engaging Fendt Customer Support Center model, provide a greater workspace for staff members and convey a modern, professional and inviting experience for customers. Construction on the new 40,000-square-foot building began in May and is expected to be completed for a grand opening in November 2021.

Service Agricole (SA) is one of AGCO’s rapidly growing dealerships and is among the largest of its North American Fendt sales and service providers. SA consists of five locations across Canada’s farm-rich Quebec province and has served the area’s farmers since 1974. The existing Sainte-Marie location was acquired in 2015, and its significant growth has been accommodated by multiple buildings that currently house its sales, service, parts, administrative and other teams.

The new facility, which will be located at 1160 Rue 2 du Parc Industriel, will not only bring all the groups under one roof but will also be more prominently and conveniently located for customers interested in the Fendt experience and other equipment lines, including those of Massey Ferguson.

“We are very excited about this new facility and what it will mean for our customers and employees. The design concept will provide a beautiful and spacious environment that will bring together everyone in ways that will enhance communication, facilitate teamwork, and inspire new solutions to meet today’s farming challenges,”

said Gilles Lafaille, SA Service Agricole’s controller.

AGCO’s Galvanize dealership design concept conveys Fendt’s strong brand image and reflects its new strategies, forward-leaning technologies, and award-winning equipment. The design provides open environments and greater visibility of dealerships’ functional areas for complete and inclusive customer experiences. Galvanize can be customized for use in greenfield projects, like SA’s new Fendt facility, or in existing buildings for dramatically modern transformations. AGCO provides design assistance for dealers upgrading their facilities to the format’s style and functionality.

Service Agricole worked closely with AGCO and the design team to ensure that the concept was implemented to meet the expansion’s most crucial goals.

“Keeping an open mind when embarking on the design of a new dealership ensures all aspects of both the operational needs and customer experience are explored. Service Agricole’s new facility is a great example of what can be achieved when proper planning and design is considered in the beginning of the process rather than the end,”

said Corbin Pulliam, studio principal, Corbin Design Group.

Central to the Galvanize design is Fendt’s Customer Support Center concept, which places tremendous importance on facilitating customer/employee engagement and collaboration. The immediate benefits of this focus are improved communications and collaborations that lead to more innovative and effective solutions for farmers. The long-term benefits include highly constructive relationships between customers and dealerships, not to mention greater job satisfaction and retention of talented employees.

“We’re tremendously excited about Service Agricole’s Fendt expansion and seeing the Galvanize concept come to life! Service Agricole’s investment in this facility clearly demonstrates its commitment to our mutual customers and supports our farmer-first strategy.  Our dealers work very hard to provide exceptional customer experiences and we want their facilities to work just as hard as they do. Galvanize provides a modern and attractive environment with effective dealership branding that we believe will positively influence customers and energize our dealers’ employees.  We’re excited for what Galvanize represents for the future of AGCO dealerships!”

said Anthony Burkes, AGCO’s director of distribution strategy and dealer development.

SA’s Gilles Lafaille summed up the purpose of the project:

“The opening of this new facility will be a celebration of our customers and our desire to serve them in a modern and efficient manner. The design will certainly provide a very effective setting to showcase the Fendt customer experience.”

Customers and readers are encouraged to follow the construction of Service Agricole’s new facility.  AGCO and SA will provide updates throughout the project via their social media channels, including Twitter and Facebook, using the #SAconstruction hashtag.

The post SA Service Agricole’s Expansion will be Much More Than Just a New Building appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Deere & Company (DE) today announced a new vision and operating model in order to accelerate its success in the integration of smart technology innovation with Deere‘s legacy of manufacturing excellence.

The Deere Smart Industrial strategy is designed to unlock new value for customers and to help them become more profitable and sustainable, while simultaneously revolutionizing the agriculture and construction industries through the rapid introduction of new technologies.

To ensure success, actions will be concentrated on the following three focus areas:

1. Production Systems: A strategic alignment of products and solutions around Production Systems roadmaps – which capitalizes on Deere‘s industry-leading knowledge of its customers and how they work. The new production systems structure enables the company to drive an integrated product roadmap and related investments that span all aspects of a customer’s jobs and to more fully meet customer needs.
2. Technology Stack: Investments in technology as well as research and development that deliver intelligent solutions to Deere customers through an intuitive technology stack made up of hardware, embedded software, connectivity, data platforms, and applications. The Deere family of “smart” machines, systems, and solutions unlocks customer economic value through enhanced precision, automation, speed, and efficiency not possible previously.
3. Lifecycle Solutions: The enterprise integration of Deere‘s aftermarket and support capabilities to more effectively manage customer equipment, service, and technology needs across the full lifetime of a John Deere product, and with a specific lifecycle solution focus on the ownership experience.

“As Deere businesses and those of its customers become more competitive and dynamic, Deere’s track record of technological innovation puts it in a position to anticipate, respond, and outpace those dynamics by offering cutting-edge solutions to enhance customers’ productivity, profitability, and sustainability,”

said John May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“The new operating model represents a leap forward in performance for the company from an already strong starting point.”

Organization and Personnel Assignments

Effective June 16, 2020, the following individuals will lead redesigned or newly created business units under the Smart Industrial Operating Model:

Cory J. Reed has been appointed to the new role of President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division for Production & Precision Agriculture Equipment and for the Sales & Marketing Regions of the Americas and Australia. In this new role, Reed will be responsible for leading a team to define, develop, and deliver equipment solutions to unlock customer value for production-scale growers in large grains, small grains, and cotton/sugar.

Markwart von Pentz has been appointed to the new role of President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division for Small Ag & Turf and for the Sales & Marketing Regions of Europe, CIS, Asia and Africa. Von Pentz and his team will be responsible for defining, developing, and delivering fit-for-purpose products and solutions to support mid-size and small growers globally, as well as for turf customers. The unit is principally organized around production systems for dairy and livestock as well as high-value crops.

Recently appointed as Senior Vice President, Intelligent Solutions Group, Jahmy J. Hindman has been named to a new position as the Chief Technology Officer, reporting to the CEO. Hindman will oversee the Intelligent Solutions Group, responsible for Deere‘s end-to-end technology stack, shared enterprise engineering, and John Deere Electronic Solutions product delivery.

Marc A. Howze, currently serving as Chief Administrative Officer, will continue in that role while also assuming enhanced responsibilities in a new role as Group President, Lifecycle Solutions – responsible for leading a team focused on the enterprise-level integration of aftermarket and support capabilities, and a focus on the full ownership experience over the lifetime of Deere‘s products.

Meanwhile, the following members of the leadership team will continue in their current roles and will continue reporting to the CEO:

• Rajesh Kalathur, President, John Deere Financial and Chief Information Officer
• Ryan D. Campbell, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
• Mary K.W. Jones, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Worldwide Public Affairs

As previously announced, John H. Stone will assume his new role as President, Worldwide Construction & Forestry and Power Systems on July 1. Deere‘s Construction and Forestry division, which was recently organized along production systems for earthmoving, roadbuilding and forestry, will now more fully leverage the technology stack and lifecycle solutions in the future.

“After 183 years of innovation, Deere continues to transform how it operates to build a more customer-driven and streamlined, nimble organization for the future,”

said May.

“I couldn’t ask for a more talented, dedicated and focused team to lead us there.”

In order to realize the Smart Industrial vision, Deere will adopt a more disciplined approach to capital allocation by devoting research and investment dollars to the most promising and profitable opportunities. Deere plans to dramatically accelerate the speed with which the company brings priority technology to market to drive value creation and capture it more quickly.

“The new operating model will help us respond to changing market conditions with greater speed and efficiency,”

May said.

Source: John Deere

The post Focused on Unlocking Customer Value, John Deere Announces New Operating Model appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.