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Agco has big plans for Massey Ferguson
About 1,5 years after Massey Ferguson expanded its factory location in Beauvais, France, another round of expansion follows. The factory can be expanded considerably through the purchases of the neighbor. This is to be able to handle more production.
Machine manufacturer Massey Ferguson announced in July 2017 that it was expanding its Beauvais site and acquired an 8-hectare site from Nestlé. The partly new building houses the logistics center and parts from external suppliers are stored.
Double Expansion
The new part of the factory, called Beauvais 3, was officially opened in mid-January. However, this expansion is not enough for the company; for example, they managed to buy the location from the neighboring ice cream manufacturer Froneri. This site comprises 15,7 hectares, of which 4,5 hectares are under roof.
These extensions are necessary to significantly expand the production of the tractors. The plan is to build 18.000 tractors annually in the coming years, compared to 14.500. This concerns the models between 74 hp and 400 hp, of which more than 75% is exported worldwide; more than 20% remains in Europe.
Positive in the Netherlands
Massey Ferguson performed well in the Netherlands. In 2017 it registered 346 new tractors, which is the best result since 2008. The year before that was 266 copies. However, the numbers are distorted. This is because all manufacturers bought a lot of tractors in stock in December 2017, due to changing legislation (mother regulation).
Agco already has a target for the new location. The suppliers can carry out their activities here, such as inspections before delivery. There will also be a 'customization workshop', where a company will pimp tractors for Massey Ferguson (ex works). Valtra is already doing this with their 'Unlimited models' and it has had great success with it. The days when the tractor had a fixed color scheme are definitely over for some manufacturers.
New tractor series
The parent company has already invested €6 million in Massey Ferguson over the past 300 years. The logistics center was €11 million and more to come. It's all part of the brand's 5-year growth strategy, explains Thierry Lhotte, European Operations Director. Since 2015, 14 new tractor series have been introduced and another 4 new series will be added over the next 14 years.
Fendt, another subsidiary of Agco, has also invested heavily in growth in recent years. The brand aims to produce 20.000 tractors in southern Germany (in Marktoberdorf) next year. That is also the maximum achievable capacity. Fendt does choose to use the 'just in time' strategy, where Massey Ferguson stops there. This means: components are only supplied when they are required and the stock is minimal. However, due to the long delivery times, which can run up to more than 1 year, manufacturers are having more and more problems with this.
Agco's third brand, Valtra, is building considerably fewer tractors in Suolahti, Finland. About 7.000 units roll off the production line there every year. It also has a factory in Brazil, especially for the South American market.
European tractor production
Agco's total European tractor production is decent. John Deere produces approximately 30.000 tractors annually in Mannheim. This makes it most likely the largest European tractor manufacturer. However, there are more European manufacturers who have invested heavily in their production; for example, Deutz-Fahr has expanded their factory in Lauingen with a theoretical capacity of 36.500 units per year. However, this is not being used, because there are currently 6.000 tractors per year. New Holland's factory in Basildon, UK, is also a significant one with 22.000 units per year.
Niels van der Boom
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