On the occasion of his visit, Mr Di Rupo said: “I was delighted to visit the New Holland Agriculture plant in Zedelgem. CNH Industrial’s presence and its development of advanced engineering is a shining proof of my conviction that manufacturing industry, hand in hand with R&D, will keep playing a vital role in Belgium’s economy.”
The plant’s roots go back to 1906 when Leon Claeys founded his factory in Zedelgem, and today it is an engineering, development and production facility for New Holland combine harvesters, large square balers and forage harvesters. The plant is well known for its innovative approach and exports over 97% of total production. The facility recently achieved a bronze classification in the World Class Manufacturing programme, aimed at improving the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing facilities.
New Holland, is committed to providing solutions that improve farming efficiency and productivity by using accessible technology. Since, 2006, New Holland has implemented the Clean Energy Leader® strategy, which actively promotes renewable fuels, emissions reduction systems and sustainable agricultural technology. The New Holland brand is the number 1 in sales of tractors, combine harvesters and big balers in Belgium and welcomed over 8,000 visitors in the plant and the Customer Centre in the course of 2013. An agricultural full liner, the brand is part of CNH Industrial, a world leader in the capital goods sector. CNH Industrial generated more than 25 billion Euros of revenue in 2013 and recorded a trading profit of nearly two billion Euro. The Group’s product portfolio includes agricultural and construction equipment, trucks, busses, firefighting equipment, engines and transmissions. A global company that employs more than 68000 people worldwide in 64 plants.
Two of these plants are in Belgium, in Zedelgem and in Antwerp. In addition, we have a commercial office for Iveco trucks and busses in Brussels.
The Antwerp plant is a major production unit for tractor components (mainly rear axles and drivelines) and employs approximately 1,000 employees. The assembly line is "best in class" where computer-controlled machines are used to manufacture gears and gearboxes that are state-of-the-art in terms of product quality, flexibility and performance.
The strength of the Zedelgem plant is the combination of expertise in the design, development and manufacturing. Engineers in Zedelgem understand how to translate the customer needs into new products. In the last 4 years we have almost doubled the number of people in Product Development and Engineering, which makes us the biggest R&D center in Flanders.
The Commercial operations for the Benelux, including Sales and Marketing, Parts and Service and Training are all based in Zedelgem. That is what makes this facility the Centre of Harvesting Excellence for New Holland Agriculture.
New Holland is een merk van CNH Industrial N.V., wereldleider in kapitaalgoederen en genoteerd op de New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CNHI) en op de Mercato Telematico Azionario van de Borsa Italiana (MI: CNHI). Meer informatie over CNH Industrial vindt u on-line op www.cnhindustrial.com. New Holland biedt een innovatieve lijn van landbouwmachines aan, waaronder een complete tractorlijn, maaidorsers, veldhakselaars, persen en verreikers. New Holland vult dit wereldwijde aanbod landbouwmachines aan met een efficiënte Onderdelen- en Service-Ondersteuning en een reeks op maat gemaakte financiële diensten van een landbouwspecialist. Meer informatie vindt u on-line op www.newholland.com.
