Technology in Farm Equipment Manufacturing
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Nobody knows their equipment better than a farmer, but oftentimes farmers don’t consider all that goes into bringing that equipment to the market. Joe Miller of Case IH says they draw on customer feedback and use an extensive process to manufacture the highest quality possible.
Miller… “How do we design processes into the plant that makes sure that quality is hit at every single step, that delivery is hit at every single step it's, it's building a process that allows, you know, the parts to come together, that we're testing it at each stage of the line, that we're testing it at key critical components along the line to make sure that by the time we get that finished, good, it's rolling off the line and hungry to start gobbling acres.”
Utilizing technology is another way CNH is able to ensure quality. Even on their torque wrenches.
Miller… “So we have a torque wrench, and it's connected more or less via Bluetooth to the display. So it'll tell the operator on a big computer screen here, you've got to put this part onto this piece. And it's gotta be a certain torque when the operator pulls the torque wrench and achieves the correct torque. That's when the system creates a checkmark and moves forward. If they tighten it as an example, but maybe it doesn't get to the desired torque. It stays where it's at until you're able to go back and correct the actual torque. That's built across the line. So it's very important to understand, like as we've made changes in the Racine plant, we've been able to really streamline the process and help realize the quality at every single step.”
Quality and innovation has been essential to CNH for over 175 years.
