CNH joins 2 data initiatives to bring mixed fleet connectivity to farm equipment customers

Italian-American industrial vehicles maker CNH Industrial on Wednesday said it has entered cooperative agreements with two data solution providers to help its agri-equipment brand customers to manage multiple fleets efficiently on a single digital platform.

In India, the company has two manufacturing units for farm vehicles brand 'New Holland' tractors and harvesters, while one unit for construction equipment vehicles brands 'Case' and 'Compactor'. It operates across 180 countries and its other agri-equipment brands are 'Case IH' and 'Steyr'.

CNH Industrial has entered into a agreement with the data interface project 'DataConnect' to record the machine data of its agri-equipment brands, it said in a statement.

DataConnect, which was recently launched by John Deere, CLAAS, CNH Industrial, and 365FarmNet, aims to create the first direct, manufacturer-independent cloud-to-cloud solution to record on-farm data with a mixed brand fleet.

The other agreement is with DKE Agrirouter, the universal data transfer hub that currently includes 17 original equipment manufacturer brands and more than 30 digital service providers, to enable customers to exchange task data between brands, it added.

"These agreements empower our customers to share and access data where and when they want, CNH Industrial President Derek Neilson said.

They will also help customers manage multiple brands of agri-equipment in the same form with a single digital platform, CNH said.

DataConnect brings a logistics benefit with machine data and Agrirouter enables customers more avenues to exchange agronomic task information, but it is really all about removing data hurdles. With fewer hurdles, there will be more demand from customers for expanded, even better digital solutions," said Morten Schmidt, global leader of digital and precision solutions and telematics for agriculture at CNH Industrial.

According to the company, both agreements required unique cooperation with industry competitors to bring the customers of Case IH, Steyr and New Holland connected fleet and farm services the freedom they need to manage their mixed-brand fleets with the highest possible efficiency.

Though the initiatives are focused on different elements of mixed-fleet access, both are aimed at removing obstructions for customers, it added.