The ACI is extended
HORSCH’s continuous growth also has an effect on the R & D sector. So it was high time to add another office building to the ACI (Agricultural Centre of Innovation). For terraHORSCH, Hubertus Bultmann, the head of R & D in Schwandorf, explains the reasons for the extension of the building.
terraHORSCH: Why did the ACI have to be extended?
Hubertus Bultmann: When the existing ACI was planned, the offices were laid out quite spaciously. Over the years, however, we reached a point where all offices were occupied and the need for further capacities became more and more obvious. Thus, an extension was indispensable. The construction works were finished this year at the beginning of September. We now have room for 60 additional employees.
terraHORSCH: How many employees have already moved in and how fast will the free desks be occupied?
Hubertus Bultmann: The first employees started to move in at the beginning of June, as soon as the first offices had been finished. At the moment, we are still far from all of the offices being occupied. The rooms in the old buildings where the colleagues have moved out are used for example as a laboratory for the electronic development team. We now have more space to carry out fully automated software tests to get even better in this sector. The workplaces that are still free will be filled step by step. Since the beginning of the year we have been able to recruit and integrate ten new employees. For next year we want to concentrate on filling the new business unit structure with life. Moreover, I want to focus on and strengthen the pre-development team – we call it “FutureLab”.
terraHORSCH: Why do you attach such importance to reinforcing the FutureLab team?
Hubertus Bultmann: HORSCH has grown due to the quick realisation of the requirements of the customers. In addition, we keep close contact with farmers and together with them test a lot of new things. Currently, there are so many exciting topics we want to work on. Besides the usual key projects in the single grain, tillage and crop sowing sector, we also focus on hybrid farming and digitisation. To be able to work on all these new topics, we need enough capacity in the pre-development sector. When recruiting new employees, we look out for colleagues who have already proven a creative mind in other sectors of the company.
terraHORSCH: Will there be more restructuring in the individual teams?
Hubertus Bultmann: We already have used the opportunity to restructure the teams when we moved into the new building. Under the umbrella of the product development we created three business units: Tillage, Seeding, Planting. Our objective: intensify the focus on the individual products of these sectors. As the product range increased significantly over the past years, this is a very important step. The future heads of the three business units at the site in Schwandorf will then assume the global responsibility for the respective sector. Right from the start they should work closely together with the purchasing, production and service department. But the most important focus of our actions still is on the benefit for our customers.