Thursday October 11th two busses filled with SeAmk
students went to Tampere for Kone Forum; a huge annual agriculture equipment
exhibition. Kone is the Finnish word
for machine and there were all kinds on display in this multi-room convention center.
Tractors, combine harvesters, balers,
ploughs, fertilizers, sprayers, bioenergy burners, trailers, wood chippers and
much more were organized by company both indoors and outside.
As part of our assignment for agricultural technology we
interviewed a few different sales representatives as we toured the expo. New
Holland is one of the most popular brands in Finland because of its quality and
reputation. The company started in Italy as a partnership of Fiat and Ford in
1990 but by 1995 it adopted the name New Holland. Today the company distributes
construction and agriculture equipment worldwide. We had a hard time
communicating with their sales representative but a SeAmk student patiently
helped translate. We have a feeling
there was information lost in translation on both sides of the conversation but
that’s been a common part of our international experience!
We interviewed a saleswoman from a company that produces
heat systems fueled by agriculture byproducts and some oil. They sell various
sized systems that take peat or wood chips to heat water and floors in private
homes. Distribution is concentrated mainly in Finland but also reaches Sweden,
Norway and mid-Europe. Bioheat systems
are very popular, especially on farms in Scandinavia where thinned forest and
grain byproduct can be used productively and reduce oil consumption.
One of the biggest displays in the expo was that of John
Deere, the top brand in agriculture equipment worldwide. However, it is the
second highest selling brand in Finland, bested by the Finnish company Valtra. We made a point of interviewing a
representative to get a look at how this American company competes with the
intensely nationalistic competition. The man we spoke to gave a very candid
answer; there is no way to compete with Finnish patriotism. We’ve heard around
the farms that many people do not consider Valtra to be number one in quality
agricultural machinery, but the Finnish are extremely proud to support domestic
products. John Deere stays a top contender by constantly improving their
machines’ efficiency and technology. At Kone Forum they were most excited to
present their new duo series baler that has 15% increased productivity.
The trip to this expo was eye opening in terms of seeing the competition between companies, impressive new technologies, individualism of brands, and wide variety of people present to observe and purchase new equipment.
The trip to this expo was eye opening in terms of seeing the
competition between companies, impressive new technologies, individualism of
brands, and wide variety of people present to observe and purchase new
equipment.
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