German farm machinery manufacturer Horsch has embarked on a €23 million investment, which will be spent between now and 2020 in three stages.
The investment programme is being seen as a renewed commitment to Schwandorf – the location of the company’s headquarters (pictured below).
Work began on the initial phase of the investment – an extension to the ACI (Agricultural Centre for Innovation) building – during recent months.
Within the ACI facility, employees develop the next generation of equipment for worldwide markets.
The so-called ‘idea workshop’ is now expanding into a four-story building – with 50 workstations for electronics specialists, engineers, designers and software developers. This investment alone accounts for €2 million.
‘Forest factory’
More significantly, construction of a so-called ‘forest factory’ is also scheduled to kick off. For the princely sum of €14 million, Horsch is building another production hall (4,200m²) and a logistics facility (4,600m²).
In addition, an open space of 4,000m² will be created outside, which will be used to store components and parts needed for production. Other developments, as part of the overall €23 million investment, will include a new paint shop.
Novel contraption
In other news, Horsch and Fliegl recently came up with an alternative to the chaser bin (used to ferry grain from combines at harvest time).
It involves a truck trailer effectively being “carried” in the field – without the rutting and compaction issues that would normally plague such an approach.
The solution being touted by Horsch/Fliegl essentially involves the use of a tractor-drawn tracked chassis unit, which can carry the truck trailer (whereby the trailer’s own wheels are lifted clear of the ground).
A prototype has been around for some years; more recently the two companies have started to forge ahead with what they feel is a market-ready product.
In a nutshell, Horsch builds the tracked (tractor-drawn) chassis/under-carriage unit. Fliegl builds the lorry-drawn (artic) trailer.
The idea is that the lorry (or truck, if you prefer) simply unhitches from its trailer. The tracked chassis unit is then reversed into position – effectively straddling the trailer.
