Fertile ground for growth RAUCH

FERTILE GROUND FOR GROWTH

When it comes to the metering and distribution of granules, RAUCH’s expertise and innovative prowess is second to none: Innovations and awards mark the path of the German specialists. Julia Snow spoke to marketing manager Jens Hille to get an update on the latest developments.

Around the globe, farmers and agricultural contractors depend on the high quality standard of RAUCH products. Founded in 1921 in Sinzheim, near BadenBaden, Germany, to produce agricultural machinery, RAUCH developed its first fertiliser spreader in 1932. Today the company employs around 395 people and produces some 16,000 machines each year, both for the home and export markets. RAUCH operates its production and assembly in a single €20 million factory at the Baden Airpark site. Owing to its key strategy of ‘innovation and investment’, the company has won many national and international awards and has registered more than 150 patents. This continued international success story is made possible, in large part, thanks to the successful and long-term cooperations RAUCH maintains with its key suppliers.

According to Mr Hille: “We must emphasise the importance of our company’s cooperation with its business partners and suppliers, who play a vital role in shaping our image, strong market position and future plans. Our experience, dedicated staff, strong market position, use of the latest technologies and continuous innovation, combined with this support from our reliable suppliers will enable us to further expand our global presence. The companies we work with are known throughout Germany and the world for their high quality and advanced technological solutions.”

AXMAT scores brilliantly in field tests

Last year RAUCH introduced the revolutionary, gold medal winning AXMAT self-adjusting fertiliser spreader, which was the first spreader in the world to feature fully automatic adjustment of the spreading pattern for the required working width via an online monitoring system. The market response was enthusiastic, says Mr Hille: “By now we have five machines in operation, and the feedback from the farmers is 100 per cent positive. Concurrently we conduct intensive test runs, and the result is that AXMAT fulfils the highest requirements in terms of precision and comfort of use. The official full market launch is therefore planned to coincide with the AGRITECHNICA 2015 show.”

And there is more product news: “We achieved a step-change in twin disc spreaders: the new AXIS-M 30.1 EMC +W V8 is the first shaft driven spreader to offer an automatic adjustment of the spreading width in eight steps. The 8-times automatic section control VariSpread V8 enables the use of the spreader on wedge shaped areas or with uneven borders.

“Also, we have been very successful with our newly introduced large area spreader AXENT. Twenty AXENT spreaders have been delivered to major farming enterprises, and the concept of combining two precision spreading modules for mineral and organic fertiliser seems to have gone down really well. All users report back on the huge saving potential of this solution.”

Strengthening the company

The company recently invested around €3.5 million in a new training centre at its headquarters. The centre (looking after 35 apprentices), and the 15-strong RAUCH service team will move into this modern environment – improving RAUCH’s aftersales performance and the technical training of its distribution partners.

In October this year the company started using its new photovoltaic system, which represented an investment of €500,000.

“1720 solar modules can produce up to 440 kWp of energy, meaning we can produce 12 per cent of the electricity we require in a carbon-neutral way.

“At the moment we are particularly pround of winning the ‘Große Preis des Mittelstandes’ (Grand Prix of SME) of the Oskar Patzelt-Foundation in September 2014.” This award, given annually, is the most important award of its kind in Germany.

Strong growth across different segments

“We see exponential growth in the twin disc segment with the patented EMC automatic metering, the automatic section control VariSpread V8 and the highly advanced ISOBUSelectronic control. In the large working width spreaders the highest growth is shown by the AXENT model.”

In the niche market of vegetable farming RAUCH has grown to be the company with the largest range of spreaders. The model range UKS offers the ideal solution for the precision fertilisation of crops in beds or

rows – there is a strong focus on promoting this offer intensively together with distribution partners worldwide.

Key role for fertilisers

“The pressure on the global farming industry to increase efficiency is growing all the time. As populations grow and agricultural areas are destroyed, the clear aim is: More yield per hectare. The fertiliser industry becomes a key player in this equation, and the high prices of fertiliser call for the use of precise, high-tech spreader technology,” explains Mr Hille.

RAUCH is currently preparing for the industry’s leading trade shows: EIMA (in Bologna, Italy) and SIMA (in Paris, France), as well as the AGRAMA in Switzerland and Denmark. During these events the RAUCH AXIS models with AXMAT will be in the spotlight. RAUCH’s R&D experts are currently working on software and on GPS Technology, and a number of projects in the pipeline will up the stakes in precision and user-friendliness, says Mr Hille: “We expect to set off a real firework of innovations at the next AGRITECHNICA.”

Positive outlook

For RAUCH, the next few years will see organic and steady development with a growth in turnover from the current €78 million up to €100 million in 2020. The company’s export business is strong, with the markets of North America remaining particularly important, says Mr Hille: “More and more farms in the USA and Canada are developing further and have switched from single to multiple fertilisations per year. This continues to create lucrative opportunities for fertiliser tehnologies like ours.”

At the same time, South America is gaining in importance. A local joint-venture has allowed RAUCH to participate in the success of the Brazilian farming industry. “North and South America are the twin motors for growth for our company at the moment,” he concludes. n

ANEDO

ANEDO acts as an OEM-supplier for electronic control and operating devices in mobile machinery. The core competence of the company is the production of these electronic-systems, hard- and software-development. Additional system design support is done by Field Application Engineers. ANEDO is one of the leading providers of customized and integrated electronic-systems in the European agricultural technology.

RAUCH and ANEDO are working together on innovative and trend-setting topics across the ISOBUS for many years. One successful example of this partnership is the development of the RAUCH FertChartApp for the CCI-ISOBUS-Terminal. Based on an extensive fertilizerdatabase on the terminal, the machine-parameters can be adjusted automatically. This feature results in more comfort for the operator caused by the economized adjustment. Large amounts of expensive fertilizer can be saved by the exactly calculated application.