LEMKEN - The AgroVision Company

We only use top-class material for our ploughs. Up to 900 tons of special alloyed steel is used each and every month. The quality and composition of the steel are decisive factors in ensuring the plough operates accurately and for a long time. Each steel delivery is inspected using mobile spectral analysis units.

Steel hardening and tempering is vital to ensure the plough is tough and wear-resistant. In the furnaces, the individual parts are heated up to 900 degrees Celsius, shaped, cooled and then hardened. Plough parts which are subject to wear are hardened and tempered on a fully-automated system which can process up to 1,000 kg of material every hour.

The grinder robots, manufactured specifically for LEMKEN, make sure the plough's mould boards are given a smooth surface.
The work pieces are blast-cleaned before the grinding process. The material has a surface hardness of 55... 65 HRC. The required surface roughness after the grinding process is 0.8....1.0µm  Ra. The grinding direction matches the flow direction of the soil on the mould board.  

The individual parts are given their final shape through a milling, turning or boring process. To this end, large computer-controlled machine tools are used that can process several parts at once to increase the material flow and are specially designed to machine highly hardened and tempered steels

Ploughs are manufactured on three lines to customer order. The pre-painted frame, plough base and slewing gear are all individually mounted by hand and then put together at an assembly station. The hydraulics and support wheels are then added. Finally, the plough under goes a final quality check.
High-strength bolted connections make every LEMKEN plough particularly durable. In the plough assembly teams the employees work independently to ensure high quality and punctual delivery with up to 3 shifts per day during peak times to ensure all orders are completed on time.

In 2009 the cathodic dip painting plant, which is as large as a football field, went into service, and it is here that up to 2.3 million components receive their typical blue colour. Using a controlled flow process cathodic dip painting deposits the paint particles onto the surface of the machine. The paint is then fired inside a high-temperature furnace at approximately 160 °C. The result is a uniform and highly resistant surface which offers long lasting protection against corrosion

At peak periods the LEMKEN shipping department loads up to 40 trucks working in three-shifts, with roughly 200 containers are shipped overseas every year.