AGCO GmbH in Asbach-Bäumenheim invited the Best Practice Partner Circle for a plant tour and joint sparring round. 20 participating partners experienced how systematic CIP work with support from digital shop floor solutions continuously optimizes value creation.
The agricultural machine brand Fendt, which belongs to AGCO, develops and produces in various locations around the world. The company’s competence center for the brand’s cabins and hoods is in a 64,000-square-meter plant that employs 1,6000 people in Asbach-Bäumenheim.
Using state-of-the-art technologies and high-tech systems, components are machined extremely precisely from the very beginning in this production location. The latest laser centers give Fendt’s cabins and hoods their characteristic shape, and modern welding technologies ensure unique designs such as the VisioPlus cabin with its convex windshield.
At the invitation of AGCO GmbH, members of the Best Practice Partner Circle could get a personal impression of how AGCO uses effective automation and digitalization approaches to systematically exploit productivity potential. In the course of the plant tour, managers and responsible experts spoke openly about their experiences, something that many participants truly appreciated.
So much here in the factory has changed in such a short time. Just a few months ago, I visited the plant in the course of a Best Practice visit, and today I see an unbelievable amount of change. This is truly CIP!
Lothar Köglmeier
WPS expert, BMW
Cascaded digital shop floor management
Based on digital evolution of classic Shop Floor Management, the KPIs at AGCO are recorded along the cascade and visualized on digital screens. This provides effective and structured problem-solving thanks to quick escalation and direct derivation of countermeasures. “The plant manager in the location has great trust in his cascade. Escalation only very seldom reaches the highest level.”
For the people responsible for the plant tour, Uwe Gürntke and Sebastian Burlefinger, the focus is clearly on visualization, hands-on problem-solving, and safety first. This enables them to keep developing the continuous improvement process successfully.
The 4-core initiative in the Asbach-Bäumenheim plant was also received with great interest by the managing directors, plant managers, and people responsible for production from the Best Practice Partner Circle:
1. Fight for an idea, not against it.
2. Go incremental (small steps – from the test to the global roll-out).
3. Believe, experiment, drive.
4. Use tools you love.
Many new technologies and innovations were displayed openly and explained in detail. This is impressive, for it’s not a matter of course to grant external visitors such insights. Thank you for this format. I was thrilled with this day.
Stefan Munsch
Managing Director, Munsch Chemiepumpen
The voices of our participants
The guests expressed how impressed they were with the special work atmosphere that is present in all areas and palpable. The focus here – despite or perhaps due to all digital initiatives – is the people.
TOBIAS SAUTER AND THOMAS WALCHER | DILO GROUP
“The AGCO spirit lives in each employee that we had the pleasure of getting to know. Enthusiasm, joy, and passion are evident here. It’s an art to create such a culture. We have experienced the next stage of evolution. Thank you very much for this.”
MARCUS NAGL | DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION CONTROL AZ HERMANN BILZ
“The structured plant environment, exemplary Shop Floor Management, communication culture, and visibly inviting work atmosphere. all of this made a lasting impression on me.”
ANDREAS BENZIGER | HEAD OF FINAL ASSEMBLY LINE, RECARO AIRCRAFT SEATING
“Everyone, whether young or old, is included. New thinking and innovative approaches are permitted. That’s great! My highlights were the digital Shop Floor Management and the task management. I was also impressed by the safety management.”
About the Best Practice Partner Circle
Our Best Practice Partner Circle currently represents 35 companies in German-speaking countries that have created lighthouses and benchmark solutions in their organization and processes and are thus exemplary for operative excellence.
Observing the best in the industry and exchanging ideas with them is the most effective way to start or reinvigorate your own improvement process. At and with our partners, guest companies experience Best Practice live through benchmark visits, tours, and seminars. The focus is on constructive exchange. Guest companies assess what they have seen on-site and take away inspiration for their own organizational environment. At the same time, our partner companies benefit from the visitors’ feedback in order to keep advancing their own transformation.
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