AGCO
between the Chinese and European operations . It piloted a concept with a company named Goodpack Ltd , which supported AGCO with creative options that proved to be very successful led out of its Changzhou , China site .
The concept was to rent the large steel containers from Goodpack ’ s China operations and utilize the containers for shipments between the Changzhou facility and two European sites . Goodpack would then pick up the empty containers in France and Finland .
“ We saw an 18 % improvement in our sea container density , significant improvements in product quality , major waste reduction , and container unloading efficiencies ,” Toornman says . “ Within six months of the pilot ’ s very successful start , we were able then to develop and implement similar solutions with our products shipping from Brasil into Mexico and Argentina . “ AGCO is realizing a huge level of value and return from our relationship with Goodpack ,” he continues . “ This type of approach only works if a company has a strongly aligned communication methodology and global network of relationships . This enables much more to get done as we do not see solutions to the same opportunity being developed independently . Our leadership teams talk on a regular basis on our global logistics alignment calls ; these sessions are essentially a status update for various initiatives that are ongoing across the AGCO globe .”
The work AGCO is doing to increase its digital capabilities is viewed by Toornman as an “ opportunity to differentiate ourselves from what our competition is doing at a much more intimate level ,” because customers spend a lot of hours in the machines AGCO sells , and when the process of acquiring the high-quality item is as simple as it can be , brand loyalty is born .
“ Sometimes a customer gets so excited about their new tractor or combine coming up the line that they want to visit the factory ,” Toornman says . “ We want that too . Our path is to be number one in customerperceived quality , and with that , we ’ re on a very strong journey and making the best in class product inroads .”
98 January 2018