Farmer’s Weekly spoke to three of the big machinery and equipment brands in the industry, John Deere, Case IH and New Holland to find out what they plan to showcase to visitors, and to gain insight into the massive logistics involved.
André Olwagen, strategic marketing manager and product portfolio manager at Case IH, said he was excited to be at the helm of his company’s team at Nampo for the second year.
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Their exhibit will include several new and impressive ‘big boys’. He said the two flagship models were the 260 series combine, which was brand new in South Africa, and their 715 Quad Track tractor, until now the biggest in the country.
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Case IH will also be displaying an in-line ripper new to the market for which they had so far received positive feedback. He estimated the value of the major implements on display at roughly R50 million to R60 million.
Olwagen said their logistics planning had been intense as many of the machinery and implements had been imported from factories across the world specifically for Nampo.
“Containers sent by ship took between 65 to 90 days to get to South Africa,” he said.
The machines then had to be assembled and prepared for further transport to Nampo. Logistics began last month, and Case IH aligned with a transport company to get all the equipment on site, including a crane truck for some items.
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Olwagen said rain in the run-up had made setting up the exhibition difficult, with the grass of their stand not necessarily happy about holding up 35t.
“It has been challenging but we have done what was needed to make it work,” he said.
Lucas Groenewald, Manager of Marketing and Division 1 Sales Southern Africa for John Deere Africa and Middle East, said their planning had begun in July/August last year with budgeting. They then focused on the theme, which new products or services to showcase, and by January this year the team was in full swing sourcing stock from relevant dealers.
Groenewald said their showstopper this year will be a new tractor being launched during Nampo on Tuesday morning. He could not provide further information ahead of the launch but said it would be “the biggest tractor” in the country.
This is Groenewald’s 28th Nampo, and he said their stand had been improved over the years with paving and roofing, so they were not concerned about wet conditions.
The fleet of machinery had started arriving last week. “Our agricultural machinery and implements on display are worth more than R100 million.”
The full team had been on site since Monday, and Groenewald said they were now just busy with the finishing touches.
Over at the New Holland stand, Marketing Manager for Southern Africa, Jaco du Preez, said they were this year celebrating 50 years since the introduction of their twin rotor technology.
He said they had a large double corner stand (A2 and A3) where visitors could see their entire range, as well as a selection of utility construction products carried by New Holland Construction.
“I would estimate we have about R80 million to R85 million worth of machinery on display.”
Du Preez said this year they were focusing on upgrades and new technology on their combines, including the new PLM intelligence console.
Planning for them had started in November last year but was made a lot easier because a lot of the stock they wished to showcase could be sourced locally.
He said they usually started conveying machinery to the site a month before Nampo’s opening day, but faced delays this year due to wet weather and road closures.
Despite this, he was happy to report that everything was in place and they too were busy with finishing touches.
