A few years ago, I was invited to attend an R&D facility to test-drive a prototype version of an MFWD tractor with a CVT transmission — then I was asked to give my impressions of what I liked or didn’t like. It was interesting to participate in the early evaluation of a new tractor.
Prototype machines start off as digital models on an engineer’s computer. Once built, they go through hours of real-world testing and evaluation, although computer simulations and virtual testing now play a much larger role in the early evaluation process.
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Maybe you’re one of a select group of farmers who’ve had a major equipment brand send out a pre-production machine for you to try. It’s a common way for brands to accumulate test hours on a new machine and get farmer feedback. Occasionally, those farmers who’ve spent a good chunk of time behind the wheel of one of those early models are asked to attend the public launch of the machine and relate their experience with it.
But the consultation process with potential customers starts long before any metal is welded together. Before investing the necessary funds into designing a new farm machine or model update, brands want to be sure they’re creating something that can satisfy buyers’ needs and wants.
All brands use various methods to be sure of that — especially now, as the pace of technological advancement increases.
“We have a myriad of ways of gathering insights from our customers,” says Aaron Wetzel, vice-president of production systems for production and precision ag at John Deere. “And we’ve been doing that for our existence, over 180-some years. We definitely survey customers based on the experiences they have with our current products, what works well for them, where they see opportunities for improvement. We do in-field focus groups, working with customers on their farms and understanding their specific needs.
“We’ve really worked on innovation capabilities. We’ve established an innovation centre in Western Canada, for example, where we work closely with growers in that particular region to understand what their challenges are in the crops they produce, and how our products are able to improve their operations.
“At the end of the day, everything we do at John Deere is how do we make our customers more profitable, more productive and more sustainable in their operations.”
At Case IH, the design and validation processes follow a similar path.
“I represent the voice of the customer and take that back to product engineers,” Scott Fairburn, global seeding product specialist for Case IH, said during a presentation at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon in January. “My job is to translate what you guys need so engineers understand that and deliver products to meet your needs.”
Again, that means using a variety of methods to gather input from producers.
“We have a number of different ways to gather that information,” he added. “The first is focus groups. We gather customers together to get their input into their special needs in a specific area.
“We also, sometimes, bring customers in for design reviews. We’ll bring them into our Saskatoon office or dealership and have them review our design solutions to get feedback. We’re starting to do more and more of that, and it’s been very successful. A lot of times we’ll combine that with a training session.”
The brand also uses telephone surveys to contact owners and get their impressions and suggestions. Sampling the largest number of owners reasonably possible helps paint a better picture of overall customer satisfaction.
“The reason we do surveys is to get more statistical information,” he says. “We also have a regular touchpoint where we have meetings with our dealers. We get feedback from dealers, which is basically transferred from their customers.
“Last, but not least, we use a process called Customer Driven Product Definition.”
Fairburn described that as a needs-based versus product-based approach to gathering insights. A cross section of Case IH design and engineering staff participate in that process, to ensure new, in-demand features are fully integrated into the design of a new machine.
Getting that design wrong could cost brands a lot of money in lost sales, warranty work and recalls — so companies need to invest time and resources to get it right the first time. As the transition to autonomy and a new way of farming looms on the horizon, customer feedback on a new generation of machines is even more important.
“We’re investing heavily across all our business,” Wetzel says. That means understanding the needs of customers and how the company’s offerings, combined with dealer channel support, enable those customers to “really improve their operations (and) enhance productivity.”
It also means working to improve the environment — and to help farmers maintain more control of operations across the field, he says.
“Our customers are also in a transition, challenged every day to have to do more with less. To do more with fewer resources.”
