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Kubota to acquire Officine

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Kubota to acquire Officine: Kubota Corporation intends to merge the lawn-mower business division of Italian manufacturer Officine BIEFFEBI (BFB) and its subsidiary Gianni Ferrari (GF) into a new wholly-owned subsidiary of Kubota Holdings B.V., Kubota’s European subsidiary for its agricultural industrial machinery business.

The creation of this new subsidiary, which will be called Kubota Gianni Ferrari S.R.L., will expand Kubota’s range of Groundcare products, aimed at professionals in sectors such as parks, stadiums and landscaping for individual customers. By integrating these new resources into its sales, production and development processes, Kubota Holdings Europe will speed up the expansion of this business line in Europe.

Kubota to acquire Officine

Kubota to acquire Officine

Officine BIEFFEBI and Gianni Ferrari have an excellent reputation and large market share in Europe as pioneers in centre collect front mowers (CCFM), a segment of medium to large high-end professional mowers for which demand has been growing steadily in recent years. In particular, both companies enjoy great popularity as CCFM pioneers in Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, among other Western European countries.

That is why Kubota has chosen BFB and GF as the best partners to strengthen and complement Kubota’s lawn equipment business in Europe. The two acquired companies and Kubota have their own competitive advantages and product ranges in the different markets. This allows their offerings to complement each other perfectly, making this commercial partnership the optimal choice to take this line of business forward in the future.

Although Kubota’s lawn-mower division in Europe had been showing solid growth in the professional and high-end consumer segment thanks to its products’ superior resistance and operating capacity, the new company, Kubota Gianni Ferrari S.R.L., will have even vaster capabilities to develop and manufacture lawn equipment in Europe, including the highly-demanded CCFM. Kubota’s CCFM segment will thus also receive a major boost and will have the company’s sales and dealer support network at its disposal.

The closing of this transaction is subject to the completion of the condition precedents including the obtainment of the Golden Power clearance. (The Golden Power is the special power of the Italian government to limit or stop foreign direct investments (“FDI”) and corporate transactions involving Italian strategic assets).

About BFB

Corporate name Officine BIEFFEBI S.p.a.
Head office Gonzaga, Lombardia, Italy
Established 1979
Business Develop, manufacture and sale of small and mid-size mower

About GF

Corporate name Gianni Ferrari s.r.l.
Head office Reggiolo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Established 1989
Business Develop, manufacture and sale of small and large-size mower

Reference – About KHE

Corporate name Kubota holdings Europe B.V.
Head office Nieuw-Vennep, the Netherlands
Established 2017
Business Management of farm and industrial machinery business

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Trilo S3 proves to be silver lining

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Trilo S3 proves to be silver lining: They say that out of adversity, comes opportunity, and that’s exactly how the team at Mount Kelly are approaching a devastating fire that destroyed their equipment store in November 2021.

With a need to replace the entire fleet of machinery, Grounds Manager Mat Stevens says that the purchase of the multi-functional S3 from Trilo has not only saved them buying multiple machines, but halved the workload on some of the sites most time-consuming tasks.

Trilo S3 proves to be silver lining

Trilo S3 proves to be silver lining

“I was actually on my way to SALTEX on the morning that the fire happened” explains Mat, who oversees the 140 acres that make up the college and prep school site alongside a team of nine. “I was trying to make a mental note of everything we’d lost, which included a brush that we used to put on the back of a tractor for leaf and debris clearance. As soon as I arrived at SALTEX, the first stand I stopped on was Trilo and it quickly became evident that an S3 would be a great replacement.”

The ability to equip brush, scarifier and flail shafts makes the Trilo S3 a maintenance machine for all seasons. Featuring powerful vacuum suction and a 3m3 hopper capacity, Mat is quickly discovering the benefits the S3 can bring. “We purchased the S3 along with the additional scarifier cassette, which was delivered by Vincent Tractors in June and since it arrived the team have been nothing but impressed. Its first outing was to clear hedge cuttings from a very hard to reach location, which was no problem whatsoever with the S3’s 6m wanderhose. It halved the time that job would have previously taken.”

Mat is also predicting similar labour-savings when it comes to autumn maintenance. “The Trilo will absolutely transform leaf collection. In other years this would involve four or five people, blowing or brushing the leaves into piles and collecting them by hand. Now it will be two people maximum, collecting leaves and other debris in one pass. We’re also looking forward to scarifying our sports fields which hasn’t previously been feasible with the resources required but now, with the S3, we can really drive to improve the quality of our pitches.”

“It’s like five machines in one and has drastically reduced the amount of money we would have otherwise had to find to replace what we lost.” Not only has Mat been over the moon with the machine, the service that came with the S3 has also been second to none. He adds, “On the day the machine was delivered, Jeremy Vincent from Vanmac spent hours with the team and I going through set-up, and how everything works, even little things like how to clean it after use. The whole process has been faultless from start to finish.”

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STIHL to enhance cordless manufacturing capacity

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STIHL to enhance cordless manufacturing capacity: STIHL Group has unveiled plans for a new €125 million state-of-the-art manufacturing site for electric and cordless power tools, significantly enhancing its battery-powered product manufacturing capacity.

Set for completion in 2024, the new 147,000m2 facility in Oradea, Romania will not only create 500 new jobs in the local area but also expand STIHL Group’s international manufacturing network, strengthening the flexibility and resilience of its supply chains.

STIHL to enhance cordless manufacturing capacity

STIHL to enhance cordless manufacturing capacity

The new manufacturing facility has been designed with lean production in mind and will utilise the latest technology to maximise the productivity, efficiency and sustainability of the plant in line with STIHL Group’s climate and carbon footprint targets. In addition to the production halls, the site will also comprise offices, a cafeteria, and break rooms for employees.

Martin Schwarz, STIHL Executive Board Member for Manufacturing & Materials, said: “Battery-powered products represent the fastest-growing market for STIHL at the present time. We expect demand for these products to continue rising faster than any other category in the years ahead.

“This means that our Tirol plant, which currently manufactures a large portion of our battery-powered range, will one day reach the limits of its space and capacities. The new location in Romania will add to our global manufacturing network and keep us in the best possible position to continue supplying our customers with battery-operated products in the future.”

Today, the STIHL Group has production plants in a total of seven countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, Brazil, China, and the Philippines, with facilities opening soon in China.

For more information, please visit www.stihl.co.uk.

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Bourne to Ride and ISEKI’s world record

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Bourne to Ride and ISEKI’s world record: Bourne to Ride Charity challenge has beaten the previous record for driving from Lands End to John O Groats on a ride on mower from Iseki.

Travelling at a maximum of 12mph for 880 miles, for 20 hours per day, Bourne to Garden founder, Colin North, driving the ISEKI SF544 ride on mower, has beaten the previous record of 5 days 8 hours from Lands End to John O Groats in 4 days 6 hours and 9 minutes.

Bourne to Ride and ISEKI's world record

Bourne to Ride and ISEKI’s world record

The team including a support van and overnight driver, plus Phil Self as ISEKI technical support, received amazing local and national support on the way and a boost to the fundraising. Colin, Managing Director of Bourne to Garden says “most drivers gave us the thumbs up and giving us friendly toots as they over took us”. During this gruelling journey Colin has stopped for refreshments and showers, battled heavy rain, wrapped up in a duvet to handle sitting and driving in the cold nights. “The toughest part was probably the mosquitoes in Scotland, waves of them hitting my face!” He wrapped up and used goggles to protect himself again. “We also had a loose wheel nut and puncture on the way but were able to sort these on the road side without too many delays”. This exciting tough fundraiser has caught the interest and endorsement from local and national media including Radio 1 & 2. The team have been putting out ‘at the moment’ pictures and video to encourage support and donations locally and nationally.

David Withers from ISEKI UK adds; “It’s been so exciting this week, tracking the guys on the mower, waking up each morning seeing where they have got up to. All the photos and videos they have been sharing from the route has been brilliant, some amazing scenery and some interesting weather at times!  It has been a real team effort to enable this to go ahead with ourselves and Bourne to Garden Ltd.  The machine has performed without any problems whatsoever, we just had one puncture in the whole 876 miles.

Bourne to Ride and ISEKI's world record

Bourne to Ride and ISEKI’s world record

We have donated some money for the charities chosen by Bourne to Garden Ltd and please, if you can, donate something to the three charities they would be incredibly grateful.  All are worthy causes and every penny of the money donated is going straight to the charities….We are Guinness World Record holders!”

To Donate please click https://gofund.me/2e8249e6

For More information about the route go to https://www.iseki.co.uk/bourne-to-ride-iseki-world-record-attempt/

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Measuring up to knapsack calibration

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Measuring up to knapsack calibration: Correctly calibrating liquid spray applications is a keystone of effective spraying.

Doing it right, whether weeding or feeding, is critical to ensure operators deliver concentrations appropriate for the task in hand.

Measuring up to knapsack calibration

Measuring up to knapsack calibration

Giving SAGE delegates the benefit of his considerable experience and knowledge will be training company boss Martin Sampson, who will reveal the secrets of correct calibration at his 6 July presentation, from 12 noon to 12.45.

Approved by SAGE exhibitor and leading industry awarding body Lantra, Martin heads up Grounds Training at a time of soaring demand for spraying qualifications.

“Local authorities, schools, colleges and companies are more aware of the importance of training now,” he says. “If you are spraying, qualifications such as PA1 and PA6 are legal requirements but increasingly we’re seeing organisations wanting to upskill staff to give them the flexibility to spray in house, instead of using contractors.”

Martin’s 45-minute fast-track presentation is “a slice through how to calibrate, why we need it, what can go wrong if we don’t calibrate regularly and the importance of well-maintained kit”.

Jointly presenting with colleague Geraint Jenkins, Martin also covers correct choice of sprayer nozzles and reveals his own method of turning calibration from a maths puzzle to 20 minutes’ work.

Grounds Training delivers a full suite of Lantra-approved grounds and sportsturf management qualifications as well as Lantra customised provision courses that cover line marking, natural and synthetic turf maintenance and maintenance and management of wildflower meadows, ponds and wetlands.

On knapsack training modules, Martin also focuses on ergonomic aspects of spraying to reduce operator body stresses and strains – using a Berthoud Vermorel Pro Comfort 2000 demo unit.

“From a training aspect, it is simple to use and to explain various points about spraying, which include operator comfort. The Vermorel’s back frame and straps distribute the weight of the knapsack and contents in a way that balances the forces on the body. The extendable lance is also helpful for illustrating how to spray safely near water, an increasingly popular course.”

www.lantra.co.uk

www.groundstraining.com

www.berthoud.fr/en/  

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