Page 14 - Best of 2016 English

the tractor and tells it how fast to drive. In turn, the tractor measures and logs the soil’s nitrogen content, calculates speci c fertilization for each sub-area and regulates the spreader accordingly.
Claas shortens setup times with CEMOS Auto- matic, its electronic machine optimization system. For example, the farmer can use an app to obtain recommended settings, or the system can make the settings itself. e farmer can also specify the “work tactic” and, for example, during nice weath- er, decide that machines should harvest slowly, which increases the grain’s quality and reduces fuel consumption.
Visitors rst entering the factory oor in Harsewinkel will not notice any signs of this new digital agricultural machinery world, but they will be impressed by the dimensions when they notice the absolutely straight corridors with light areas in the distance that suggest the end of the “tun- nel”. Longer trips through the factory are made easier by the 820 bicycles available throughout the factory grounds. e combine models Lexion, Tucano, Avero and Dominator, as well as forage harvesters and large tractors, are manufactured in Harsewinkel on four assembly lines. Metal sheets are piled up at the beginning of the production line: stamped and welded elements, for example, rasp bars and rolls tted with serrations or teeth, suggest the power of the threshing unit later dur- ing mowing.
A few yards farther, sparks are ying as welders assembly the body shell. A combine’s body resem- bles a steel caterpillar. A rugged construction that is a match for high loads, and that logically must be made of steel.
But how do the combines look on the inside? “ e complete cutting unit with feeder, transverse
auger and also rasp bar must be made of steel,” says Bernd Seelmeyer, Product Manager Combines at Claas. “No other material is conceivable for the parts involved in the threshing and separating or in the substructure of straw harvesters.”
Daniel Schneidmüller, responsible for steel purchasing at Claas, emphasizes the variety of steel components and their grades. He talks about the business relations with Salzgitter AG. “We source 150,000 m of precision tubes from Salzgit- ter Mannesmann
Stahlhandel in
Gladbeck, and we
receive 1,700 t of
sheet metal from
the Steel Service
Center in Schwerte.
Deep-drawing
grades with high
yield strength and
stability are impor-
tant.” Udo Rinke,
who works in Sales
- Industry at the Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahl- service GmbH in Schwerte, adds, “Our job is to con gure the sheets to meet the requirements. We receive the coils from Salzgitter, cut the requested widths and lengths, and deliver the steel sheets as needed, either to Claas or to one of its suppliers.
25 x
The Claas sites process a total of 200,000 t steel a year. It would be possible to build 25 exact copies of the Ei el Tower from this steel and the cast parts used at Claas.
e factory in Harsewinkel can manufacture up to 40 combines a day. It takes two days to complete the top of the line Lexion 780, with 250 mechanics working for 100 assembly hours to put together exactly 53,896 separate parts. is work requires extreme precision, because there are more than 300 possible equipment options for the four Lexion models.
Claas facts and gures
Founded: in Clarholz-Heerde in 1913 Headquarters today: Harsewinkel (in the Gütersloh area, North Rhine-Westphalia) Sites: Germany (5), rest of Europe (15), North and South America (5) and Asia (6) Employees: 11,535 worldwide (2015)
Annual sales 2015: 3.8 BIL euros, 875.8 MIL of this in Germany, 77.2% abroad
Earnings before income tax: 158 MIL euros (2015)
Internet: www.claas-group.com, claas.collection. com (Shop), www.facebook.com/yourclaas
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4 AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY
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