50 years of plastic parts

In-house production at AMAZONE 

In 1975, we were faced with the challenge that some parts in our seed drills, which were provided by a supplier, were incurring disproportionately high costs. As a result, we made the decision to start manufacturing these parts ourselves. After our calculations showed a positive benefit, we took the plunge and started with just a single plastics machine, which was provisionally set up in a corner of the joinery department. 
The decisive push towards in-house production came at a VDMA meeting when Klaus Dreyer got talking to a manufacturer of plastics machines. This gave rise to the idea of manufacturing plastic parts independently to identify potential savings. The first test case was the soft PVC bellows for our seed drill, of which we needed hundreds of thousands every year. Internal production enabled savings of over 100,000 Deutschmarks per year. The challenge was immense: production of the bellows proved to be complex, as the injection mould had to be treated with "release spray". But with commitment and a spirit of innovation, we were able to overcome this hurdle.
Today, our plastics department operates from its own building, equipped with five machines that operate around the clock and produce over 540 different parts. Right from the development phase, our design engineers identified the advantages of corrosion-resistant plastic parts, which are not only lighter and more resilient, but in most cases also more cost-effective than the metal alternative. AMAZONE successfully focuses on innovation and quality in its in-house production in order to remain competitive.