TractorsHi-tech painting for trac­tors

The new paint shop at the John Deere plant in Mannheim combines shiny trac­tors with envi­ron­men­tally friendly produc­tion. Take a look behind the scenes of this state-of-the-art facility and test your knowl­edge in a short quiz.

November 2024

Text: Julian Stutz
Photos: John Deere

A tractor must not only be powerful, but also look good – espe­cially when it rolls off the produc­tion line. After all, the John Deere green is an inte­gral part of the brand. By imple­menting the new fully auto­matic painting system, the company is contin­uing to modernise its tractor produc­tion at the Mannheim site and set new stan­dards in terms of paint quality, envi­ron­mental protec­tion and energy effi­ciency.

The invest­ment of 80m € – will then need to be converted to pounds) in the new paint shop and moderni­sa­tion of the final assembly line is also an impor­tant commit­ment to the largest John Deere site outside of North America.

Hi-tech for perfect surfaces

On the new line, the tractor chassis first pass through seven cleaning and prepa­ra­tion stages, involving four robots. Following that, 10 robots work in perfect harmony to apply the primer, followed by the green final coat. A control centre is respon­sible for moni­toring and oper­ating the plant.

Did you know?

How many tractor chassis can be in the paint shop at the same time?

  • About 50 chassis
  • About 100 chassis
  • About 150 chassis

Solu­tion:

The paint shop has the capacity to process around 100 chassis simul­ta­ne­ously, with each one being worked on at 2.7-minute inter­vals.

A green invest­ment for the future

The new building is the first at John Deere to meet the KfW-40 effi­ciency level. Energy effi­ciency has been signif­i­cantly improved thanks to optimal heat insu­la­tion and use of the latest tech­nolo­gies such as heat pumps and frequency converters. In addi­tion, the exhaust gas post-combus­tion signif­i­cantly reduces emis­sions, while waste­water and rubbish are largely avoided. In addi­tion, the plant uses elec­tricity gener­ated by solar panels on the roof.

Did you know?

How much elec­tricity can the solar panels on the roof of the new facility generate per year?

  • 400.000 kWh
  • 600.000 kWh
  • 800.000 kWh

Solu­tion:

The 3.600 m² of solar panels on the roof of the new building can generate up to 800,000kWh of elec­tricity per year for internal use.

Quality, flex­i­bility and human exper­tise

The paint shop not only strengthens produc­tion at the Mannheim site, but also enables the flex­ible produc­tion of larger trac­tors and various models. Despite full automa­tion, human exper­tise remains indis­pens­able as special­ists operate the system, programme the robots and ensure quality in a special manual painting booth. At the end of the process, employees visu­ally inspect the paint­work of each chassis before it enters the dryer.   

Did you know?

What is the maximum weight of a tractor chassis that can be painted in the new plant?

  • Up to 6.000 kg
  • Up to 8.000 kg
  • Up to 10.000 kg

Solu­tion:

The new system is designed for tractor chassis with a tare weight of up to 8,000kg and a width of up to 3.5m.

Inno­va­tion to help the envi­ron­ment

A high­light of the new system is the inno­v­a­tive way it handles over­spray, i.e. paint that does not end up on the chassis. This makes a signif­i­cant contri­bu­tion to the envi­ron­men­tally friend­li­ness and effi­ciency of the paint shop and replaces the wet scrub­bing process used in the past, in which water was constantly running to catch the paint parti­cles and which then had to be cleaned at great expense.

Did you know?

How is the over­spray sepa­rated in the new system?

  • By water walls
  • By rotating brushes
  • By an elec­tro­static precip­i­tator

Solu­tion:

In the new system, the over­spray is sepa­rated by rotating brushes. The brushes trap the paint parti­cles from the exhaust air, which are then regu­larly scraped off and disposed of without creating any addi­tional waste­water. This method is envi­ron­men­tally friendly and conserves resources.

From the start of construc­tion to produc­tion

The construc­tion of such a complex plant is a massive under­taking that required careful plan­ning and co-ordi­na­tion. The project not only involved the building work, but also the instal­la­tion, testing and opti­mi­sa­tion of the complex painting tech­nology. The final changeover from the old to the new plant took place within three weeks during the summer shut­down this year without affecting ongoing produc­tion.

Did you know?

How long did it take from the start of construc­tion to the offi­cial opening of the new paint shop?

  • About two years
  • About three years
  • About four years

Solu­tion:

Almost exactly three years: Work began in November 2021 with the offi­cial opening taking place in October 2024.