Ceremonial inauguration of the Fendt high-bay warehouse
(ltr) Ekkehart Gläser (Managing Director of Fendt Production), Maria Rita Zinnecker (District Administrator of Ostallgäu), Christoph Gröblinghoff (Chairman of the Fendt Management Board) and Michael Eichinger (3rd Mayer of Marktoberdorf) inaugurate the new Fendt high-bay warehouse
New Fendt high-bay warehouse
Not far from Marktoberdorf railway station, the new 26-metre-high 'Allgäu landmark' has towered above the town since the beginning of the year. The 10-metre-wide, 32-metre-long building was completed after only 15 months of construction. An underground tunnel with an integrated conveyor system now connects the new warehouse with the existing halls of the transmission plant. The final construction phase, which involved creating a transfer point for stored materials to the factory, was completed on 30 June this year and now enables the fully automated storage and retrieval of transmission components. The high-bay warehouse offers storage space for over 1,600 Euro pallets, each with a maximum weight of 1,000 kg, spread over 18 levels.
(ltr) Dr Jan Cachay (Plant Manager, Fendt Transmission Plant), Ekkehart Gläser (Managing Director, Fendt Production), Ingrid Bußjäger-Martin (Managing Director, Finance & IT Fendt), Michael Eichinger (3rd Mayor of Marktoberdorf), Maria Rita Zinnecker (District Administrator of Ostallgäu), Dr Josef Mayer (Managing Director of Fendt Research & Development) and Christoph Gröblinghoff (Chairman of the Fendt Management Board) in front of the transfer station of the Fendt high-bay warehouse.
A strong foundation for tomorrow
Christoph Gröblinghoff (Chairman of the Fendt Management Board)
'For 30 years now, our customers have placed their trust in the legendary Vario transmission, which we have been manufacturing at our transmission plant in Marktoberdorf since 1995. 'The engineering spirit that drives the further development of Fendt Vario transmissions is complemented by the quality of the production process,' says Christoph Gröblinghoff, Chairman of the Fendt Management Board. 'We achieve this quality through consistent investment in production processes and well-trained employees who oversee processes and utilise modern technology efficiently.'
The total project, worth over €7 million, is one of many investments in Fendt's future business locations in Germany. Between 2024 and 2025, AGCO/Fendt invested over €105 million in the production area at the Marktoberdorf site alone.
Fully automated storage and retrieval thanks to barcodes
The computer-controlled warehouse management system delivers components fully automatically and on demand to the production line via an underground conveyor tunnel. This reduces transport times and increases efficiency, while also significantly reducing traffic on the roads and improving occupational safety. Initially, the system will run at a capacity of up to 70 storage and retrieval operations per hour. However, it is already prepared for higher utilisation and the requirements of the future, thus offering the necessary flexibility for long-term growth.
Ekkehart Gläser (Managing Director of Fendt Production)
"We have produced more transmissions than ever before in Fendt's history in the past two years," says Ekkehart Gläser, Managing Director of Fendt Production. 'To keep pace with this growth and prepare for increased demand in the coming years, we are investing in modern infrastructure and automated systems. This will enable us to produce reliably and efficiently in a high-cost country like Germany, even under the pressure of rising costs.'
The new high-bay warehouse complements production with automated processes that relieve employees of repetitive tasks. This allows them to concentrate on more challenging work.
The vertical storage of parts is particularly space-efficient, and the temporary storage of parts in high-bay racking frees up valuable space in the Fendt transmission plant for new machine tools. Automatic storage and retrieval decouples different shift models in production and assembly. This balances asynchronous volume flows more effectively, thereby increasing efficiency in production processes.
About the Marktoberdorf site
The traditional Fendt brand has its roots in 1930, when brothers Hermann and Xaver Fendt constructed the first Dieselross in a smithy in Marktoberdorf, which was still known as Markt Oberdorf at the time. Since 1937, the headquarters of the agricultural machinery manufacturer have been located on the family's former farm. The transmission and tractor plants are now located here, where all Fendt tractors and their signature Vario transmission are manufactured. From development to production and administration to marketing and sales, everything runs hand in hand at the site.
About the Fendt Vario transmission
The journey of the tractors begins at the Fendt transmission plant, where all Fendt Vario transmissions have been manufactured and assembled since 1995, from individual sun gears to finished transmissions. The Vario transmission is now installed in all Fendt tractors worldwide, ranging from the fully electric Fendt e100 Vario and the 79 hp Fendt 200 V Vario vineyard tractor to the 673 hp Fendt 1167 Vario MT crawler tractor with a 4.5-tonne Vario transmission.
This year, the Vario transmission celebrates its 30th anniversary. The story began at Agritechnica in 1995, when the world's first tractor with a continuously variable Fendt Vario transmission was unveiled: the Fendt Favorit 926 Vario.
Insight into 30 years of Fendt Vario
