Agco Corp. is upgrading its Edgewood, Md., Massey Ferguson assembly and distribution plant to boost through-put of compact and utility tractors and equipment by 50% and speed delivery to dealers. The $2 million investment is expected to be completed in November.

The same is going on at plants in Texas and Washington state. That’s the word from James Shurts, Agco director of operations.

More production and warehouse space, assembly line equipment and conversion to paperless order-tracking from assembly through shipping are being made to meet current and growing demand for this equipment sector, he explains. Changes at this facility northeast of Baltimore will reduce time from order to shipment to 48 hours or less, take product quality to a higher level and increase production volume by 50%.

Those improvements include:

• 70% more storage for larger inventories of fastest-selling products. It’ll allow all unbuilt tractors to be stored under roof.

• new automated tire-handling equipment to eliminate lifting and manual tire installation, making the assembly process faster and reducing employee injury risks.

• a larger, remodeled training classroom to help keep product specialists and dealers abreast of the latest product improvements and operating procedures.

Similar expansions are planned for the two other U.S.-based Agco facilities in Houston, Texas, and Tacoma, Wash. “Doing final assembly of Agco’s globally manufactured products at just three primary locations allows us to standardize our equipment testing process, ensuring the very best product quality before the tractors reach our dealerships,” adds Shurts.

“Excitement about the high-quality compact and utility tractors recently introduced to the Massey Ferguson line and a sizable number of new dealers coming on board since January 2016 is creating a lot of demand — a trend we expect to continue. By expanding and enhancing our assembly centers, we’ll be better prepared to meet this demand.”

Source: Agco