Nathanel tours John Deere's Arc-Les-Gray factory in France, where they make round balers and front loaders. The video shows the manufacturing process from start to finish, including quality control and how the machines are built.
Hello, everyone. My name is Nathanel. Behind me, to my left is a front loader and to my right, a round baler. Both these machines and the front hitches are made at the John Deere factory where I work, here in Arc Les Grais, in the heart of Bourgogne Franche Comte, just near Dijon and Besancon. Our Factory employs nearly 500 people and covers over 14 hectares. But John Deere Arcligre is not just a production site. Everything from round balers to front loaders and front hitches is designed, tested and manufactured on site. So naturally, everything starts with our customers needs, which are analyzed by our marketing team before they are examined by our design office. Our testing unit validates prototypes first virtually, then in the laboratory, and finally in the fields. Under real conditions, it can take several years before a machine goes into production. Here we are now in the factory where we manufacture or assemble our products. The first stages are cutting, bending and welding. We work over 15,000 tons of steel a year. That's the equivalent of two Eiffel Towers. Over the last four years, we've invested over 20 million euros in improving and modernizing our site. All our teams have been involved in optimizing the production of our machines. The factory is at the cutting edge of technology, with over 30 welding robots, including one fully automated line, to maximize both the quality of our products and our productivity here in Arcligret. It's not only our machines that are green. Our powder paint plant produces no waste at all. And the whole factory is committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2026. Our six assembly lines, one for each product range, provide maximum flexibility so that we can deliver to our customers as quickly as possible. All our parts logistics are optimized. Each operator is supplied on a just in time basis, improving the ergonomics of their workstation as well as their productivity. Each machine is unique and produced according to the customer's requirements with maximum customization. This is only possible thanks to rigorous production monitoring and a commitment by all our teams to operational excellence and continuous improvement. Quality is the guiding threat that runs throughout the production process in our factory. All our machines are therefore tested before shipping. 3,600 hours a year. That's how long we spent just on dynamic testing before shipping. Over the past five years, we've been committed to modernizing our factory, which means that technology has been fully integrated into our production lines. To enhance quality, the machines are controlled using thermal cameras, UV lamps and acoustic scanners, for example, Augmented reality is the latest technology we've added to our production lines. Hundreds of control points are verified on each machine before the quality certificate is attached. As you'll have gathered, customer satisfaction is our priority. Our balers, front loaders and front hitches are all distributed worldwide. 75% of our production is exported into over 50 countries. So that's the end of our factory tour. Would you like to find out more? Simply visit the John Deere website. See you soon.
