The Scrappy Tech Leader You Thought You Knew

U.S. agricultural machinery giant John Deere has a museum celebrating a history going back to 1837 at its headquarters in Waterloo, Iowa. Not far away is the company’s revolutionary 5G-powered factory.

The company is famous worldwide for its trademark green tractors and other agricultural machinery. It is also forging a new reputation as one of the leaders in precision farming and is now in 5G manufacturing.

Rather than a revolution, however, it has been more of an evolution that has reached a significant inflection point.

John Deere began buying up spectrum licenses in 2020 in five U.S. counties with manufacturing plants—paying a modest USD500,000—and started moving its factory connectivity from wired ethernet and Wi-Fi to a private LTE network.

The goal is to go from the current split of 70% wired ethernet and 30% Wi-Fi to 80% mobile, 10% Wi-Fi and 10% ethernet in five years.

The current blueprint, used in the U.S. headquarters, is to use two 4G networks and one standalone 5G network, an approach it will continue to use as the device ecosystems mature.

The initial move to wireless was a game changer because it helped reduce costs, add more sensors and cut down the time required to reconfigure the manufacturing process.

The company invested in its networking team, boosting headcount, and added innovations such as wireless sensors to welding stations, which collected data that helped build an algorithm that perfected welding.

John Deere’s early understanding of how 5G connectivity could change its operations also resulted in a decision to create an in-house team rather than rely on vendors for a design.

The team worked with Nokia, and it took only six weeks to set up a production network for the testing phase.

Taking it to the world

John Deere’s factory environment currently comprises more than 100 automated vehicles that move parts around in the assembly process. At the same time, 5G-powered computer vision inspects welds and sensors to assess the performance and status of tooling.

5G has other advantages, too. It enables the connection of a greater number of devices and offers better security through enhanced encryption.

The company is also taking 5G to its manufacturing facilities outside of the U.S. John Deere recently outlined plans for a private 5G network in a new factory in Brazil, using a 3.5GHz mid-band spectrum.

“Connectivity unlocks vast opportunities that were previously limited or unavailable.”

Currently, the company has 18 private networks spanning the U.S., Europe, and South America, but not all are in production mode.

The plan is for more private networks, 4G and 5G, across 70 John Deere factories and another 70 logistics facilities worldwide.

Catalyst for Innovation

The company has also been a leader in developing precision farming, with the purchase of AI and robotics company Blue River Technology as a catalyst for innovation.

Many of these innovations have found their way to farmers out in the field. John Deere is taking this a step further with the January announcement of a deal with SpaceX to provide satellite communications to farmers in the U.S. and Brazil.

The idea is that Starlink will enable farmers in areas with poor connectivity to use precision agriculture technologies.

Starlink terminals will be installed on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machine to the John Deere operations center.

“The value of connectivity to farmers is broader than any single task or action. Connectivity unlocks vast opportunities that were previously limited or unavailable,” said Aaron Wetzel, vice president of production and precision Ag production systems at John Deere.

“For example, throughout the year, farmers must complete tasks within extremely short windows of time. This requires executing incredibly precise production steps while coordinating between machines and managing machine performance…Each of these areas is enhanced through connectivity, making the entire operation more efficient, effective, and profitable.”

The solution will connect new and existing machines, enabling autonomy, real-time data sharing, remote diagnostics, enhanced self-repair solutions, and machine-to-machine communication.

Farmers will be able to connect in the second half of 2024.

Data is also a big part of John Deere’s technology vision. The company estimates that precision farming will create USD150 billion in value and that its legacy business means that it is uniquely positioned to leverage this.

John Deere has the world's largest fleet of farm vehicles, and this is a major opportunity. It has been backed by around USD1 billion in research and development.

There is also a sustainability imperative. Agriculture and food production are estimated to be responsible for over 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. More efficiently grown broadacre crops with lower emissions intensity are part of the climate transition solution. 

Image credit: iStockphoto/Nicholas Smith