AGCO Corporation’s vision: Building a globally digitised supply network

Abstract

AGCO Corporation set a strategic vision that would deliver a globally integrated supply chain providing a competitive advantage in the global agricultural equipment marketplace. The vision was wide in scope and ranged from our customers to our external supply chains. The key benefits that AGCO planned to achieve with this strategic vision was very clear: to develop a globally integrated supply network that would deliver agility, flexibility, scalability, standardisation, innovation, increasing performance and cost efficiency. The actual results that were realised exceeded AGCO’s expectations in terms of productivity, financial results, performance levels, agility, scalability and global integration. The paper will provide readers with two insights into how AGCO’s internal culture focuses on innovation, from the initial concept through implementation. One element of the paper will provide insight into AGCO’s internal digitalisation with a deep dive into AGCO’s Google Glass utilisation. The second element of the paper will provide insight into AGCO’s connectivity across its global supply network of 3,000+ direct material suppliers, transportation service providers and 54 internal manufacturing sites. The paper will also provide readers with insight into how AGCO was able to generate a ‘pull approach’ to the implementation and roll-out of the new tools, processes, organisational approach and the new way to work. The initiative’s approach essentially created a culture of the manufacturing sites wanting to have the different digitalisation work streams implemented at their respective sites.