ServicesAfter­market connec­tivity key in oper­a­tion effi­cien­cies

The most impor­tant element is not the sale process but what happens after it. UK John Deere dealer Ben Burgess uses connec­tivity to main­tain direct lines of commu­ni­ca­tion between dealer, machine, and oper­ator – allowing for greater oper­a­tional control and insights into the true machine effi­ciency.

Farm

For arable farm manager Alister Farr at Chivers Farms, Cambridgeshire, the after­market solu­tions have given him access to reli­able contacts that have helped his fleet’s tech­no­log­ical tran­si­tion. “I’m managing around 1000ha of combin­able crops spread over 11 blocks of land so there’s a lot of trav­el­ling. The soils are heavy, but we also sit in a dry corridor– and like most farms in the area, we have the chal­lenge of black­grass and cabbage stem flea beetle,” says Mr Farr.

“We run an exten­sive rota­tion, mainly using min-till to estab­lish both winter and spring crops – with the latter helping to combat black­grass. To improve sustain­ability, we have moved to a controlled traffic system, and this year we trialled 28ha of phacelia.”

Mr Farr decided to part company with his John Deere self-propelled sprayer in October 2019, opting instead to buy a new 6175R tractor and R962i trailed sprayer. “The self-propelled was great but it’s a one job machine,” he says. “The sepa­rate tractor and sprayer give us much more flex­i­bility within the fleet.” He also intro­duced a 785i combine harvester to his fleet in July 2020.

Preci­sion ag consul­tant and farmer collab­o­rating to set the equip­ment up for tailored in-field oper­a­tion.

Delivery

On delivery, a preci­sion ag consul­tant from Ben Burgess collab­o­rated with Mr Farr to set up and cali­brate each machine to get the best in- field oper­a­tion. “When we had the combine deliv­ered we needed the preci­sion ag consul­tant to fine tune the combine so that machine sync was enabled, allowing the combine to dictate the speed, direc­tion and posi­tion of the chaser bin tractor,” explains Mr Farr.

“We have also had help importing and exporting bound­aries, guid­ance lines, vari­able rate plans, and section control on the farms drill.”

Connec­tivity

After the headache of running a mix of guid­ance brands, the unifor­mity of fleet tech­nology was attrac­tive to Mr Farr. “Tech­nology is great when it is working – but using a mixed system proved time consuming with inac­cu­ra­cies and issues with data trans­mis­sion,” he says.

His main aim is to achieve connec­tivity through the fleet, with the transfer and colla­tion of previous data – like yield and harvest/spray maps, and vari­able rate data – all coming back through his Gate­keeper soft­ware.

“We are now able to transfer our yield maps to Gate­keeper. And while we wait on soft­ware devel­op­ment for further data transfer, we can use MyJohn­Deere for those appli­ca­tions and its other features. We feel set up to get more out of the system as the Gen 4 upgrade comes.”

Remote display access has kept Mr Farr remotely connected to his preci­sion ag consul­tant, enabling him to assist with set-ups, trou­bleshooting and machine perfor­mance. “Farmers are now expected to be techies as well as every­thing else,” he says. “The remote access means that even from the field the preci­sion ag consul­tant can trou­bleshoot for us when we need that assis­tance – during harvest that stopped a couple of tech issues causing bigger prob­lems.”

Moni­toring

With permis­sion, the after­market solu­tions team can monitor the machine throughout its oper­a­tional life – connected via JDLink – allowing the team to consult with the oper­ator on func­tional adjust­ments throughout the seasons.

Oper­a­tional data can also be moni­tored to generate reports which calcu­late poten­tial savings by analysing fuel usage and idle time. “With such a hard year – poor weather and a tough harvest – we haven’t fully utilised the capacity of the moni­toring and reporting,” explains Mr Farr. “

I can see it as a useful tool. What we have also found useful is the bench­marking report – it ignites a bit of a compe­ti­tion between the oper­a­tors; you can’t complain if it improves effi­ciency.”

Preci­sion ag consul­tant and farmer reviewing data for effi­cien­cies.

The machine moni­toring also enables two kinds of alerts: oper­a­tional and expert. Opti­mi­sa­tion alerts inform the service team enabling them to consult the driver on how to enhance machine oper­a­tion in real time – maximising uptime and minimising the cost impli­ca­tions of inef­fi­cien­cies.

The expert alerts are gener­ated by algo­rithms which iden­tify patterns within measured para­me­ters to indi­cate an immi­nent fault. They alert the preci­sion ag consul­tant, who can then inspect the machine through remote access. While Mr Farr’s fleet has not yet expe­ri­enced an expert alert, another customer avoided a £15,000 engine repair bill after the system detected a faulty oil pres­sure regu­lating valve – the spilt value would have caused signif­i­cant damage. Instead it cost £150 for a replace­ment.

Main­te­nance and repairs

Consis­tency and longevity of machine perfor­mance heavily relies on good main­te­nance, the frequency of which depends on work­load and machine oper­a­tion. But perhaps most chal­lenging – above costs and sched­uling services around jobs – is the avail­ability of parts and labour. “The dealer can easily see when our machines need main­te­nance so can call us in good time to arrange the work,” explains Mr Farr.

“During the earlier part of our harvest, the combine was vandalised – we came out in the morning to find the wind­screen smashed and the display screens ripped out,” he says. “We talked to the after­market team and by lunchtime we were out combining with a stand-in machine – our own was repaired and returned within three days.”

Ahead So how does Mr Farr see the fleet moving forward? “We will certainly be carrying on with the services provided by after­market solu­tions – there is defi­nitely range to improve our effi­cien­cies.”

Ahead

So how does Mr Farr see the fleet moving forward? “We will certainly be carrying on with the services provided by after­market solu­tions – there is defi­nitely range to improve our effi­cien­cies.”