NEWS RELEASE
www.AGCOcorp.com
For ELA Website
AGCO Smart Logistics Closes Digital Gap
Receives European Gold Medal in Logistics and Supply Chain
AGCO’s Smart Logistics initiative received the ‘European Gold Medal in Logistics and
Supply Chain’ from The European Logistics Association (ELA) in Brussels. AGCO and
4flow were recognized for their efforts in digitalization and end-to-end integration of
partners within AGCO’s international inbound supply chain. Late last year, AGCO and
4flow also won the renowned German Supply Chain Management award by the
German BVL organization for their Smart Logistics initiative.
The ELA, a federation of 30 national organizations from across Europe, awards the
most innovative logistics and supply chain transformation projects each year. The
contest, which is often described as the Champions League of Logistics and Supply
Chain Management, is played out amongst 30 award-winning projects from national
competitions The ELA jury selected the AGCO and 4flow initiative as the best this year.
The agricultural equipment company along with its fourth-party logistics service provider
(4PL) were able to win the competition amongst incumbents to various industrial
sectors.
This award underlines AGCO’s chosen path to not only provide market-leading products,
but to support these products with the best and most innovative processes. It also
shows that joint forces are key in making a difference in today's marketplace. The
AGCO and 4flow supply chain team is incredibly proud of being recognized with the
ELA award. The integration of the European supply network with the 4PL concept was a
recognized achievement by the AGCO team and its partner 4flow.
The AGCO Smart Logistics initiative consists of innovative and collaborative processes
building on an integrated Supply Chain Management IT solution and by joining forces
with 4flow as its neutral 4PL partner. A dedicated team at 4flow supports AGCO with
continuous planning, management, and optimization of the inbound networks in Europe.
CHALLENGER  FENDT  GSI  MASSEY FERGUSON  VALTRA
1
The collaboration by AGCO and 4flow includes strategic network planning and inbound
optimization as well as cost monitoring and reporting. The approach is based upon the
principle of combining an intelligent transportation management system, a standardized
supplier development process, and risk management into a central cloud-based IT
solution. The innovative approach utilizes smart algorithms that dynamically optimize
the network requirements holistically, including capacities, supplier shipping
requirements, lead-times, as well as monitoring a wide range of geopolitical, weather,
and economic factors on a real-time basis in order to optimize the material flow.
Defined as one of the strategic corner stones in its Supply Chain Strategy the three
essential drivers of innovation for AGCO were based in its heritage of bringing the best
of different brands together. Key drivers are:
1. The integration of the company’s production and aftermarket sites while continuing to
maintain its multi-brand strategies.
2. The implementation of a globally standardized and integrated freight network delivering a
sustainable performance level of excellence while providing the agility and adaptability
to support global product development, manufacturing, and aftermarket requirements in
a digitized environment.
3. The ability to proactively detect and mitigate potential risk factors occurring within the
company’s global supply network
The innovative collaborative approach of inbound supply chain planning and control was
rolled out in 20 manufacturing and aftermarket sites worldwide. AGCO worked closely
with its partner and 4PL service provider 4flow. Together, the partners integrated more
than 1,500 material suppliers and more than 70 logistics service providers as part of this
initiative.
This level of integration enables an unprecedented dynamic planning of the inbound
network in order to optimize costs and risks on a daily basis. By using its AGCO Smart
Logistics solution the company has increased the synergies as well as reduced global
supply chain risk. With this, AGCO enabled the change towards a highly integrated
value added network, which not ends at the factory gates but extends towards its supply
chain partners. For AGCO, big data becomes a driver for adding value.
The solution enabled AGCO to reduce cost of the inbound supply chain by more than
25 percent during the past years. Furthermore, on time delivery performance increased
by 10 percent while process conformance has increased by 15 percent. Paired with
significant improvements in Supply Chain agility, the company generates a competitive
advantage in the marketplace. In addition to the significant improvements in costs,
performance and quality, the initiative is reducing the CO2 footprint through improved
capacity utilization and therefore it not only benefits AGCO but the environment as well.
CHALLENGER  FENDT  GSI  MASSEY FERGUSON  VALTRA
2
About AGCO
AGCO (NYSE: AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of
agricultural solutions and supports more productive farming through its full line of equipment
and related services. AGCO products are sold through five core brands, Challenger®, Fendt®,
GSI®, Massey Ferguson® and Valtra®, supported by Fuse® precision technologies and farm
optimization services, and are distributed globally through a combination of over 3,000
independent dealers and distributors in more than 150 countries. Founded in 1990, AGCO is
headquartered in Duluth, GA, USA. In 2016, AGCO had net sales of $7.4 billion. For more
information, visit http://www.AGCOcorp.com. For company news, information and events,
please follow us on Twitter: @AGCOCorp. For financial news on Twitter, please follow the
hashtag #AGCOIR.
About 4flow
4flow provides consulting, software and services for logistics and supply chain management.
4flow consulting offers one-stop management consulting, concept development, and
implementation support for logistics and supply chain management. 4flow vista® is the standard
software for supply chain and transportation optimization. As a neutral 4PL, 4flow management
handles the continuous planning, optimization, and operation of customers’ supply chain
networks. 4flow research develops practical innovations and conducts supply chain research
relevant to the industry. 4flow is a recipient of the German Award for Supply Chain Management
2016. For more information, please visit www.4flow.com.
CHALLENGER  FENDT  GSI  MASSEY FERGUSON  VALTRA
3