A NOBLE BUSINESS
A NOBLE BUSINESS
HISTORY DOES NOT REPEAT ITSELF. BUT IT DOES INSTRUCT. IT’S A HUGE RESOURCE OF PATTERNS. IT’S A HUGE RESOURCE OF STRUCTURES. IT’S A WAY TO GET YOUR BEARINGS IN A MOMENT LIKE THE PRESENT ONE. TIMOTHY D. SNYDER AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN
FOREWORD
NEBRASKA GOVERNOR PETE RICKETTS
4
CHAPTER 1
VILLAGE OF LINDSAY IS BORN
10
CHAPTER 2
ZIMMERER REPAIR SERVICE GAINS TRACTION
16
CHAPTER 3
LINDSAY MANUFACTURING TAKES ROOT
24
CHAPTER 4
GROWING PAINS, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEKALB
32
CHAPTER 5
THE “END OF AN ERA,” LINDSAY WELCOMES THE WORLD
48
CHAPTER 6
STRONGER AND MORE DIVERSIFIED
58
CHAPTER 7
LINDSAY GOES PUBLIC; GROWS GLOBALLY
70
CHAPTER 8
A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR INFRASTRUCTURE
84
CHAPTER 9
LINDSAY AS A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
94
CHAPTER 10
BIGGER PLAYER, BIGGER MARKET, BIGGER WORLD 104 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MICHELLE RENNE LEACH 124
THE BEGINNING OUR COMPETITIVE EDGE
1948
1972
WELCOME TO LINDSAY
Lindsay received a patent for the proprietary external collector ring — a defining feature since 1971. This innovation was the first of its kind and allowed for constant electrical contact at the pivot elbow. This eliminated the hassle of a wire that could tangle and the need to route a cable through an internal conduit.
Founder Paul Zimmerer moves his family and his business, Zimmerer Repair — a repair shop and blacksmith operation, to Lindsay, Nebraska.
1973 1965 After joining the family business in 1963, Paul Zimmerer’s sons, Bernie and Art, establish a formal partnership to create Lindsay Manufacturing Company (From left; Paul, Bernie and Art).
Lindsay received patent for the uni-knuckle joint, a link used to connect two spans that offered increased strength and control. This innovation still used today was crucial to Lindsay’s success in manufacturing pivots that can withstand rough and hilly terrains. These innovations gave Lindsay a distinct competitive edge in the very early years of center pivot production.
1955
1979
Snoline™, now a Lindsay company, begins manufacturing
10K Lindsay Manufacturing sells its 10,000th center pivot.
ROAD SAFETY PRODUCTS from its headquarters in Italy.
1969 Lindsay’s first Zimmatic center pivot begins operating on a farm near Newman Grove, Nebraska. It’s still in operation today.
GROWTH 1984
1997
FIRST ROAD ZIPPER SYSTEM
Lindsay Corporation becomes a publicly traded company, trading as LNN on the New York Stock Exchange.
Barrier Systems® launches its first Road Zipper System — a movable median barrier that reduces congestion and improves roadway safety.
1988 REMOTE MONITOR AND ALARM CONTROL (R-MAC) Lindsay releases its Remote Monitor and Alarm Control (R-MAC) — computer technology that allows Zimmatic pivots to start “talking” for the very first time.
1984
2000
Lindsay introduces the Generation 2 center pivot. Now known as the 9500P, this revolutionary design standardized structural components for various-sized machine types. This innovation greatly simplified assembly and increased manufacturing efficiencies.
Rick Parod begins his 17-year tenure as president and CEO.
1989 Lindsay President Gary Parker (above, far left) is named CEO and chairman, holding the position until his retirement in 2000.
GLOBAL EXPANSION 2006 Award-winning FieldNET® technology is introduced — advanced GPS technology that gives growers the ability to monitor and control their irrigation from virtually anywhere, via smartphone, tablet or computer.
2001 Lindsay Corporation moves its headquarters to Omaha, Nebraska.
2002 LINDSAY SOUTH AFRICA is established.
2001
2006
Lindsay acquires Perrot, a French manufacturer of hose reel and pivot irrigation systems, restructuring the company to establish Lindsay Europe.
LINDSAY ENTERS TRANSPORTATION SAFETY SPACE, acquiring Barrier Systems® and Snoline™.
2002 LINDSAY BRAZIL is established.
TECHNOLOGY 2007
2011
100K
Lindsay acquires IRZ Engineering Consultants, a global designbuild-manageoperate resource engineering firm delivering advanced resource management and conservation services for land owners and agricultural producers.
The company celebrates 100,000 pivots shipped.
2017 LINDSAY LAUNCHES FIELDNET® ADVISOR
2015 LINDSAY ACQUIRES ELECSYS CORPORATION, a leader in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Lindsay launches FieldNET Advisor, taking FieldNET’s irrigation management technology to the next level. This new technology helps growers decide precisely when, where and how much to irrigate.
2019 Lindsay celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first center pivot delivered.
2009
2015
2019
Lindsay (Tianjin) Industry Co., Ltd. opens in Tianjin, China.
THE LINDSAY SULAMA FACTORY OPENS IN TURKEY.
Lindsay introduces FieldNET® Pivot Watch™, an ultralow-cost, DIY pivot monitoring solution that is the most universal offering in the industry.
2015
2017
SAFETY ON THE GOLDEN GATE
Tim Hassinger, above, becomes president and CEO.
The Road Zipper System is installed on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge — eliminating head-on and crossover collisions.
CHAPTER 1
VILLAGE OF LINDSAY IS BORN The pioneering environment that gave rise to innovators like the founder of Lindsay Manufacturing, Paul Zimmerer. A TWO-HOUR DRIVE NORTH and east of Toronto’s big-city buzz sits Lindsay, Ontario, a commercial hub of 20,000 people nestled in the lush Kawartha Lakes region. The community owes its name to a “Mr. Lindsay,” a surveyor’s assistant who succumbed to an infection after he was accidentally shot in the 1830s. Lindsay wasn’t even 40 years old when Irish immigrant John M. Walker answered the call of “Free Land!” that came courtesy of the Homestead Act of 1862. It’s been characterized as one of the most important pieces of legislation in United States history; 10% of the country’s land would be claimed and settled under the Act. Walker and his family left Canada in 1854, residing in northwest Iowa before traveling overland to homestead in Platte County, Nebraska, in 1870. A handful of Irish families followed their lead. They settled on Shell Creek, near what would become the Village of Lindsay, Nebraska. Pioneering families found the land very fertile, among the area’s richest and most tillable soil. Tall grass blanketed inky-colored, mineral-rich soil. Problem was, sources of water and lumber were quite scarce. Ever resourceful, these pioneers crafted grass sod houses — dark and hard to clean, but cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and a lifesaving refuge from catastrophic prairie fires. In Lindsay’s First 100 Years to commemorate the village’s 1988 Centennial celebration, Walker is said to have uttered: “Between snakes, floods, prairie fires and grasshoppers, the early settlers had to keep alert if they wanted to keep from going to bed hungry.” He recalled fires so fierce they destroyed a year’s-worth of hay, and grasshoppers so thick they ate through rope. “After the locusts left the whole country looked like a desert,” Walker is quoted as saying, “with only a green spot here and there which has been overlooked by the marauders.” 10
Those Irish settlers who carved a hamlet out of prairie and bestowed the “Lindsay” name in homage to their Canadian home, were joined in later decades by a handful of German immigrants. As the 19th century dawned, the first sermons at Holy Family Catholic Church were in both German and English. Likewise, advertisements for businesses like the Lindsay Pharmacy and Martin Mogan Real Estate and Insurance featured in Lindsay’s First 100 Years, are written in the “Mother Tongue” and in English. Paul Zimmerer descended from trailblazing German stock. Zimmerer’s grandfather, Joseph, and grand-uncle, Adolph, left their parents in 1858 — settling in the Great Lakes state of Ohio. As Zimmerer writes in Zimmerer Family History, the brothers went their separate ways; Joseph headed west, stopping in the German settlement of Watson, Missouri, where he met his future wife, Gertrude. Zimmerer wrote: “When Joseph learned there was some open land west of the Missouri, he told Gertrude Baker he would go there, stake his claim, build a cabin and come back for her.” He found an 80-acre farm in the southeastern corner of Nebraska, near the home of Arbor Day: Nebraska City. Gertrude later joined Joseph. They married and had eight children, including Paul Zimmerer’s father, John. The boys outgrew the homestead (it was too small to “keep them busy”), so the family purchased a 600-acre ranch in the northern part of the state, in Pierce. The children grew up and left home, with John settling on a rented farm near Humphrey, 50 miles south of Pierce. He married Lizzie Preister and they had 14 children (two died as infants). Paul B. Zimmerer was born June 18, 1914, the third child and secondborn son. At this point, Paul was around 34 years and 12 miles removed from starting the enterprise that would become Lindsay Manufacturing and, later, Lindsay Corporation. Nebraska in 1888. Paul’s family lived in several areas before settling in Lindsay, Nebraska. Among them: Pierce Lindsay Humphrey Omaha Nebraska City
11
CHAPTER 3
LINDSAY MANUFACTURING TAKES ROOT How the Zimmerers got into the irrigation business, cultivating industry-changing inventions: the Zimmatic pivot, towlines. AS THE 1960s DREW to a close, the patent Frank Zybach originally secured on his “self-propelled irrigation apparatus” was nearing its expiration date. In 1953, a year after the patent was granted, Zybach reportedly returned to his native Columbus, Nebraska, to build the system with brother-in-law A.E. Trowbridge. The following year, Valley Manufacturing founder Robert Daugherty purchased the licensing rights from Zybach to make his invention (today, Valley is the agricultural brand under Valmont Industries’ umbrella). With this impending deadline, tinkerers and professional engineers alike flooded the industry, racing to create the next big marketable and lucrative center pivot. The 1960s represented an enviable boom for Lindsay Manufacturing. An employee handbook from the time spotlights several sales milestones that drove ongoing plant expansions. In 1965, the same year Bernie and Art created a formal partnership with their father, the plant’s physical footprint doubled. In another two years, square footage doubled again. It was to become a pattern. During this time, Paul wrote that he was doing “a lot of experimenting, because I wanted my mind occupied, so I would not have time to think of my troubles.” He lost his wife. His father suffered a devastating stroke. Art was overseas, serving in the military. A close family friend, Dick Preuss said Art was “competitive in everything,” but such enthusiasm didn’t extend to school. “When (Art) quit, I begged him not to,” Preuss said. “He went into the Army, to Germany. When I graduated, I went to Germany and was in the Army, too. He learned to weld aluminum while he was over there in the service.”
24
When Art returned to Lindsay, Preuss said “he had more direction.” Meanwhile, Art’s father was occupying himself with designing a pivot irrigation system — his first, and in contrast to some of the aforementioned pivot pioneers in other states and even countries. Alongside his brother, Gene, Paul created a 40-acre machine with a large electric motor and lightweight steel wheels; however, the system was susceptible to wind damage. Acknowledging Lindsay Manufacturing Co. needed to make all kinds of irrigation equipment to serve all kinds of markets and farms, Paul said the duo also worked on a “traveling sprinkler.”
Bernie, Paul and Art Zimmerer with their patented pipe coupler in 1968.
MARVIN WEEDER MAY HAVE been in seventh heaven when he first successfully used the towline system. But, when asked about his first impressions of what would become known as the Zimmatic pivot, Weeder wasn’t sold. “After we saw how the towline worked, we got them pretty quick, and then they started in 1968 with the pivots and I thought that was a mistake,” he said. “Who was going to spend $13,000 to $15,000 on a pivot when you could buy a towline for about $600 or $700? It didn’t look like they would ever go over.” Weeder said farmers didn’t have that kind of money — corn was a dollar a bushel (or less). He wasn’t alone in this sentiment; more than a few sources consulted for this book noted the Big Red Towline was a big seller even after the brighter, shinier object (the Zimmatic pivot) made its debut. The order form for the legendary “Pivot No. 1” is dated 11-6-68, at a cost of $15,000 (or just north of $106,000 in today’s dollars). As with any new frontier, there is some trepidation expressed — and that comes through on the order form. It stipulates the customer (Everett Nathan of nearby Newman Grove) is to pay “one half or $7500” — only after the machine “rotates satisfactory one time around.” The form further reads: “On Oct. 1, 1969, the balance or $7500, shall be remitted to Lindsay Mfg. Co. with sales tax of $375.00 at that time. This machine is guaranteed including parts, repairs, additions, and labor until Oct. 1, 1970.” Signed by Nathan and Art, the document specifies: “We (the Lindsay Mfg. Co.) will do our level best to have the Zimmatic Self-propelled operating trouble free by May 15, 1969.” Lindsay Manufacturing Co’s Irrigation Advances in 1994 quoted Nathan as saying: “I had another system ordered but I heard the Zimmerer’s were going to build one. I talked to Art and he said he would sell it to me at a reasonable price.” Nathan reportedly irrigated crops with a volume gun towed by tractor. He was soon convinced the automated system could handle hills — and more.
Left: The order form for “Pivot No. 1,” sold on Nov. 6, 1968. The tag is shown below. Everett Nathan in 1999 with his original Zimmatic pivot.
CHAPTER 4
GROWING PAINS, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEKALB A family business contends with ongoing expansion; joins a family of diversified agricultural companies. MANUFACTURING REIGNS AS THE state’s largest industry in terms of Gross Domestic Product. Roughly 1,600 manufacturing businesses account for around $13.25 billion of output in 2016, according to Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Jamie Karl of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Threads bind those firms that are flourishing in rural areas (defined in Nebraska as most any area outside of Omaha and Lincoln), starting with a direct connection to the next generation. Paul, Bernie and Art Zimmerer.
“Rural manufacturers tend to be significantly involved in the community and local schools, thereby building loyalty with current employees, as well as their families and children,” he said. “This is especially helpful in future workforce development.” Karl said rural manufacturers generally respect and support area residents. “These manufacturers are almost always one of the largest employers in the area and residents are grateful for the economic opportunity they provide,” he said. “Compare that to larger urban areas where manufacturers are sometimes taken for granted or, worse yet, vilified.” He referenced the “cost of doing business advantage.” “In many cases in Nebraska, municipalities and county governments will work with manufacturers to attract such businesses or encourage their growth,” Karl said. By the early 1970s, the multi-generational connection was represented, at least in part, by the torch being passed from father to sons. Paul Zimmerer recalled a “turning point”: Doctors diagnosed him with a circulatory problem and, in Zimmerer’s words, asked if he was in a position to leave Lindsay and the plant.
32
“They (the doctors) felt that perhaps I would have a short time left,” he wrote. “It might be best to sell my interest in Lindsay Manufacturing Co. to Bernie and Art.” Both Columbus Telegram and Omaha World-Herald articles published in 1979 refer to the senior Zimmerer as selling his interest in the company to his sons right around the time Cliff Loseke, the first of its outside management people, was brought on in 1971. Bernie Zimmerer is quoted as saying their father sold out “because he was afraid Lindsay Manufacturing was growing too fast and might fail.” “Dad had been through the Depression and the thought of being overextended scared him.” In Paul’s own words, he shared how his father, John, was forced to turn over his farm to a loan company during the Great Depression. “Perhaps less than 50% of the farm owners were able to keep their farms as most of them that had even small mortgages on their farms when the Depression started, ended up losing them,” he wrote. “Often the loan companies resold the farms for much less than the original mortgage.” Farms that originally sold for $300-plus per acre went for $30 to $60 an acre. “The only things my father was able to save were his horses, farm machinery and a good herd of cattle,” Paul wrote. “It seems that it was always the cattle and dairy produce that we were able to sell that kept the large family from going hungry.” “The two boys, once they bought their father out, understood a couple of things: One, growth was important,” said Gary Parker, the retired CEO. “There were some companies that were just satisfied being a regional company. They realized they were going to really be successful, and to realize the total potential, growth was important, and … they had to bring in some outside talent. The other thing they did was they realized if they were going to have growth, capital was going to be a key element. For two young men that didn’t have a college education, they were pretty business-savvy.”
Paul Zimmerer
“I DON’T THINK I did the job I was hired for one day,” said Greg Johnson, a 40-year service veteran from Newman Grove. “It was supposed to be to drive a yard truck and I ended up bundling truss rods. Then, shortly thereafter, we loaded the trucks with the pivot equipment and I saw service guys getting 60, 70, 80 hours a week and I thought, ‘This is good.’” Dean Krings told of something similar. “A friend and I came over and said, ‘Let’s get a job early, so we can get out of school and have a job waiting for us,’,” said Krings, a 44-year employee in tooling and fixture. “It was only supposed to be a few hours a night, and it was so busy back then, I was working like eight to ten hours a night and I was finishing up school during the day. I started off in the welding department.” Krings said it wasn’t unusual for employees through the years (including his friend) to go to what they thought were “greener pastures,” only to return to Lindsay Manufacturing later. Lester Voelker’s Lindsay gig was supposed to be a “temporary” one. “Once I got out of high school, I went to college for a couple of years and I decided that wasn’t for me, either,” the Newman Grove native said. “I came back home and was going to farm.” That changed when Voelker, in need of a “two- or three-month job to tide me over,” said Lindsay was hiring. “They asked what I wanted to do and I said, ‘I don’t care. I just want a job for a few months,’ and they said something about galvanizing, whatever that was. I had no clue.” The investment in galvanizing would provide a competitive edge; instead of purchasing galvanized pipe and welding flanges onto it, Lindsay coated critical steel parts for the Zimmatic (such as pipes, trusses and towers) with zinc in-house. Lindsay marketing materials read of how hot-dip galvanizing “Provides a long-lasting protective barrier that resists corrosion and pitting — so it won’t scratch or wear off like paint or other coatings. Inside pipe remains smooth, reduces friction and improves water flow. Zinc is highly-resistant to fertilizer or chemicals that eat unprotected pipe and cause pitting, setting up friction and destroying water patterns.” “I just got used to the paycheck,” continued Voelker, a 37-year team leader. “Then I got married, and farming got expensive. I got used to the place, dare I say it grew on me. I still farmed a little bit and it was close to home.”
Ken Haddix’s approach was to take a tour of the Lindsay plant straight out of high school and identify the highest-paying department. He ended up in galvanizing production for more than 43 years. “Like Lester said, I got used to the money and at the time I was starting out, it was $3.15 an hour. That was big money.” A 45-year finance department veteran, Jean Sawyer of Newman Grove recalled how work attire was a fancy affair. “Bernie and Art wore three-piece suits and ties, and leisure suits with shoes to match that were pink and green,” she said. Formalwear also applied to the company’s famed holiday parties. “It was like going to prom,” Sawyer said. “We had our hair done ... And a corsage was pinned on you that matched the color of your dress.” The community’s businessmen were also invited to join in the festivities. Before computers, the IT department spanned two people, and Sawyer mentioned how the first documents transmitted electronically took five minutes to transmit — per page. Sue Werner, another finance department veteran of around 40 years, also recalled printing presses that were as big as bars, and how Bernie signed each and every check by hand.
The Lindsay plant in the 1970s. 39
The “pigeon hole” also made a lasting impression on Sawyer, Werner and Sherry Hoefelman, a 40-year customer and marketing services employee. “We ran out of storage space and had to store our extra files in what we called the ‘pigeon hole,’” Sawyer said. “When you opened up the drawer, literally pigeons would fly out. I don’t know how they got in there, but there was more than one pigeon that would fly out.” Werner painted a picture; the hole had to be reached by ladder above the engineering space close to the factory. Since everyone dressed to the nines, this required some fenagling in heels and dresses, and it was also a treacherous task when the person perched on a ladder got spooked by an errant bird (often followed by screaming and, sometimes, expletives). At some point during Lindsay’s ongoing expansion, they said the hole even served as offices for a couple of employees. “There was a lot of practical jokes back in the day,” said Senior Human Resources Manager Doris Wemhoff, who was hired by Hoefelman in 1993. Sometimes, Wemhoff said it was “mustard on the phone,” and there is photographic evidence that Hoefelman dressed incognito (in a costume that added many decades to her youthful years) for a colleague’s 50th birthday celebration. The environment was such that Lindsay even had its own bowling league (where more hijinks ensued!) and, to this day, many retired and current employees still get together for “reunions,” bridging the miles and years.
40
Humphrey native Jane Wiehn’s start was the shipping office. But her next stop was the parts department. “It was different back then,” she said. “I would have the dealers call me and they’d say, “I need this little piece that goes between this Uni-Knuckle and this screw — you know that little piece?’ … But you had to get your book out and try to determine what kind of part this guy needed and cross your fingers that when it was shipped to him, it was the right one. But anymore today, since we got the computer and everything, they don’t call in like that. They’ve got to call in their own part numbers.”
The Lindsay plant in the 1970s.
Wiehn’s following (and current) stop — the print shop — represented the biggest project of her 42-year career. “This is our biggest book — the repair parts manual,” she said, while showing off a thick brick of a book. “I had to make 250 of these. It’s all the layout of the pivot. All the part numbers. Every dealer needed one. I just had papers everywhere … and back then, you had to hand-collate everything.” But, she said, dealers appreciated it because there was nothing on the computer. “This was their life, their Bible,” Wiehn said. “Now they can go on Lindsay Connect and look it up on the computer, but there are still some old-school farmers out there. They want this book with them in their truck — out in the heat or the cold when their computers don’t work.” To this day, Wiehn estimates she gets calls for one or two books each month.
42
CHAPTER 10
BIGGER PLAYER, BIGGER MARKET, BIGGER WORLD The action, motivations behind “Project Foundation.” Preserving the past, positioning for a world of opportunities and growth. TIM HASSINGER WAS FREQUENTLY “warned” by individuals at the Omaha corporate office that “Lindsay is a really small town.” “I explained to them, ‘It’s OK. I grew up in a town of 1,000 people. I know what a small town looks and feels like.” Hassinger, who stepped into the president and CEO role October 2017, grew up on a family farm in Flanagan, a 45-minute drive north of Bloomington in central Illinois. “I grew up in agriculture, so I have a background in ag business and I was aware of Lindsay and pivot irrigation,” he said, “but I didn’t know anybody that worked at Lindsay, I had never worked directly in irrigation, and I had no exposure to the infrastructure business.” While his native Flanagan’s soil is very fertile, there’s zero irrigation in the area. His roots in farming and at the helm of an agricultural chemicals, seeds and biotechnology giant have “helped in the transition.” When Hassinger left Dow Chemical Co. subsidiary, Dow AgroSciences, after almost 34 years, its sales surpassed $6 billion, its presence blanketed 120 countries and its employment was north of 9,000 associates. “I spent my entire career there — I started in the company as a summer intern,” he said of Dow AgroSciences. When a recruiter contacted Hassinger about an opportunity with Lindsay, his first impression was, “It sounds interesting.” “I was intrigued,” he said. “First of all, it has a high percentage of the business in ag and it was positive that it was not in crop protection or seeds. I did not want to compete against my former company.” Hassinger liked the size of the company — big enough to have lots of challenges, small enough to have an impact as a leader in a relatively short period of time. When Hassinger started as CEO at Dow AgroSciences in May 2014, he embarked on a 100-day plan. He chose to embark on the same type of journey when he started as CEO of Lindsay. 104
“The 100-day plan at Lindsay was important, because I’m a complete stranger and, in some ways, I’m even worse than a complete stranger — I’m coming from a big company,” he said. “So, there’s tremendous concern of, ‘Is he going to understand what a mid-sized company is like?’ I wanted to communicate exactly what I was going to do, and how I was going to do it.” In the first 100 days, the focus was on getting to every key location — be it manufacturing or office sites — and interacting with more than 1,000 people, in one-onone or small groups. “I wanted to get simple questions addressed: ‘What do you like?,’ ‘What are you concerned about?,’ ‘What do you think we need to do differently?” he said. “The feedback was extremely consistent. I was able to conclude the 100-day plan in 83 days. I anticipated there would be a lot of conflicting inputs — why did this person say this? And someone else said the opposite? I didn’t have any of that. The message was extremely consistent, whether it was employees, customers, dealers and even, in some cases, outside stakeholders” Hitting the ground fast was all-important. “Everybody believes their business, geography and plant is really important, so you can’t do this over six, nine months because the person you don’t get to for eight months, you just sent them a message saying, ‘You’re not that important.’” Transparency was a “must” that Hassinger heavily attributes to wind at Project Foundation’s metaphorical back; for instance, within Hassinger’s first hour on the job, he emailed the announcement about the 100-day plan to all Lindsay associates. In this note, Hassinger introduced himself, starting with: “I have big shoes to fill. Rick Parod’s passion for all of you and the industries you serve were a key factor in the company’s success. As for me, I want you to know that I share the passion and commitment to excellence and innovation that has driven this company for more than 60 years.” Referencing his time with Dow Agrosciences, Hassinger told the team: “I have a lot to learn. I’m currently in the midst of the 100-day plan that I sent to you — a plan that’s designed to gather as much info as possible about our business units, company culture priorities and opportunities.”
Lindsay Corporation President & CEO, Tim Hassinger.
The plan concluded with a global video conference. What did Hassinger consistently hear? The sense of pride in the brand. The focus on dealers and customers, to the point where key dealers and customers were known all the way through to senior leadership. The increasing amount of innovation. 105
OUR MISSION LINDSAY PROVIDES POWERFUL IRRIGATION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS THAT CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
107
OUR VISION LINDSAY CORPORATION WILL BECOME THE INNOVATION AND MARKET LEADER IN OUR CORE BUSINESSES THROUGH EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT AND SUPERIOR EXECUTION.
111
OUR VALUES LEADERSHIP
WE INSPIRE OTHERS AND DEMONSTRATE COURAGE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE INTEGRITY
WE ARE OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT COLLABORATION
WE CREATE MORE TOGETHER THAN AS INDIVIDUALS ACCOUNTABILITY
WE SET HIGH STANDARDS AND DELIVER AGAINST THEM RESPECT FOR OTHER
WE FOSTER AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE THAT VALUES EACH OTHER’S VIEWS
OUR EXPECTATIONS SAFETY
WE ENSURE EVERYONE GETS HOME SAFELY EVERY DAY ETHICS
WE DO WHAT IS RIGHT, NOT WHAT IS EASY
116
115
OUR BEHAVIORS
ONE LINDSAY Lindsay Corporation wins by collaborating and preventing the emergence of silos. Our competitive advantage is that employees and leaders are empowered to share knowledge across geographies, functions and businesses – unlocking insights, innovation, efficiencies and smarter ways of working. Employees proactively identify potential building of silos and other barriers to collaboration. We know that to win, it must be done as One Lindsay – there is no room for self preservation or sandboxes. We are all here as one team for one common and collective purpose. BUILD TRUST Leaders foster an open, honest, respectful and transparent work environment to allow new ideas and collaboration to flourish. All employees are invested in the development and well-being of one another — both providing and receiving direct feedback. Lindsay employees are encouraged to be courageous and embrace “opposing views,” providing new ideas, perspectives and asking difficult questions to help get to a better answer. Employees are respectful of one another’s time, input and work. Leaders are held accountable to develop their employees.
118
UNLOCK CREATIVITY Employees are empowered to share ideas early and often to ensure the best ideas have the time and resources needed to develop. Trust and active engagement in creative pursuits is core to Lindsay employee success. Creativity can be applied to incremental improvements, process improvements and big bold ideas, all supported by a cross-functional project culture, ideation sessions and other enabling mechanisms. Employees demonstrate initiative and ownership of Lindsay’s success, channeling creative ideas into action. Employees apply their expertise in idea generation and problem-solving, identifying promising solutions and rapidly prototyping. Leaders are successful when their teams are open, creative and contributing new ideas to the organization.
CUSTOMER-FIRST INNOVATION Lindsay employees have “customer” in their DNA and believe that when customers (e.g. growers, contractors) thrive, we thrive. We earn the trust of our customers and channel partners through collaboratively developing innovative solutions to meet their needs and address their pain points. We use our understanding of our customers to introduce industry-leading products, services and technologies that enable their success. We make bold decisions where we can innovate to ensure we continue to develop the best products and lead the industry. Our innovation pipeline is aligned to, and delivers on, our strategic vision as well as our investment of time and mindshare and allocation of resources. we are comfortable taking risks — and sometimes we don’t quite get it right, so we quickly adjust.
120
119
LOCATIONS NORTH AMERICA 1 Lindsay Corporate
18135 Burke Street Omaha, NE 68022 800-829-5300 www.lindsay.com
2 Lindsay Manufacturing 214 E 2nd Street Lindsay, NE 68644 800-829-5300 www.lindsay.com 3 Elecsys Corporation 846 N Mart-Way Court Olathe, KS 66061 913-647-0158 www.elecsyscorp.com 4 IRZ Consulting
505 East Main Street Hermiston, OR 97838 541-567-0252 www.irzconsulting.com 5 Lindsay Transportation Solutions
180 River Road Rio Vista, CA 94571 707-374-6800 www.lindsaytransportationsolutions.com
SOUTH AMERICA 6 Lindsay Brazil Rodovia Adhemar Pereira de Barros - SP 340-KM 153, 5 Jd. Bela Vista Caixa Postal 200 Mogi-Mirim, Sao Paulo 13804-830 +55 19 3814-1100 www.lindsaybrazil.com
AFRICA 7 Lindsay Africa 6 Talana Close Sacks Circle Bellville South, 7530 +27 (21) 986-8900 www.lindsayafricagb.com
122
EUROPE 8 Lindsay Europe Domaine de l’Epinglerie La Chapelle D’Aligne La Sarthe, 72300 +33 (0)243480202 www.lindsayeurope.com 9 Lindsay International BV Weena 278 Rotterdam, 3012NJ +31 10 8701340 www.lindsay.com 10 Lindsay Transportation Solutions Via F Baracca 19/23 20056 Trezzo Sull-Adda Milan, Italy +39 02 90 99 61 www.lindsaytransportationsolutions.com
ASIA
4 5
2
1 3
11 Lindsay Sulama (Turkey) Karamehmet Mh Avrupa Serbest Bolgesi, 4.Cadde No.3 Corlu, Ergene-Tekirdag +90542 29 401 74 www.lindsay.com 12 Lindsay China Rm 403 Bldg C Beijing Lufthansa Center No. 50, Liangmaqiao Rd Chaoyang District Beijing, 100125 +86 10 64652464 www.lindsaychina.com
AUSTRALIA 13 Lindsay International (ANZ) Pty Ltd 19 Spencer Street Toowoomba, QLD 4350 +61 (7) 4613 5000 www.lindsay.com
Lindsay NZ 14 581 Taonui Road Feilding, 4775 6462120550 www.lindsaynz.com
6
9 8 10 11
12
13 7
14
I BELIEVE WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN OUR BUSINESS UNITS IS EMPLOYEES WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHERE THEY’RE PARTICIPATING, TAKING OWNERSHIP IN THE COMPANY AND ULTIMATELY — PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR JOBS. TIM HASSINGER PRESIDENT & CEO