CLAAS is an international company active worldwide.
Harsewinkel, Germany
Harsewinkel, CLAAS' headquarters, hosts the company's administration and a major factory.
The Harsewinkel plant was opened in 1919. Combine harvesters have been manufactured here since 1936. To date, over 400,000 have been built. CLAAS also produces forage harvesters and the XERION tractor in Harsewinkel. Between 2000 and 2003, the factory was expanded so that not only finished machines but also individual components for other CLAAS plants can be produced.[23] The machines manufactured at the main plant in Harsewinkel are transported about half by rail and half by truck. The choice of the means of transport depends mainly on the destination country. To Western Europe (especially Germany, France, Spain), transport is mainly by road. To the seaports of Bremen and Hamburg as well as to Southeast and Eastern Europe (especially Poland, Romania and former CIS states) rail transport is predominant. The importance of rail traffic is reflected in the fact that as early as 1967, a 3.1-kilometer-long connecting railway was built, leading from the Ibbenbüren – Gütersloh line of the Teutoburger Wald-Eisenbahn (TWE) to the company's own Harsewinkel-West works station.[24]
Bad Saulgau, Germany
CLAAS's facilities in Bad Saulgau develop, test and manufacture forage harvesting machines and attachments. Additionally, the chopper unit of the JAGUAR comes from this production site. The Bad Saulgau site is also home to a test center for forage harvesting technology and the CLAAS Group's Competence Center for Tractor-Implement-Automation (TIM).[25]
Le Mans, France
Following the acquisition of a majority stake in Renault Agriculture, CLAAS has also been offering a complete range of tractors since 2003.[26] All CLAAS tractor models except of the XERION are manufactured at the Le Mans factory, two hours' drive southwest of Paris.[27] In 2021, a three-year refurbishment of the factory was completed.[28]
Metz, France
At the CLAAS plant in Metz, 400 employees manufacture balers for the agricultural industry. Since the start of production in 1958, over 300,000 have been manufactured. Each type of baler is produced on its own welding and sheet metal processing line. This saves costly retooling and enables the simultaneous production of all models.[29]
Törökszentmiklós, Hungary
800 employees work at the Hungarian location Törökszentmiklós, southwest of Budapest. It has been part of the CLAAS Group since 1997 and has developed into the competence center for cutter bars and drum mowers.[30]
Columbus, Indiana and Omaha, Nebraska, US
CLAAS machines have been harvesting on North American fields since the 1950s. Since the founding of the CLAAS of America (COA) sales company in 1979 and the subsequent laying of the foundation stone in Columbus, Indiana, in 1981, sales have been handled by CLAAS dealers. With the growing business in the United States, the spare parts department in Columbus, which is responsible for the entire US and Canada, has also been greatly expanded.
The production company CLAAS Omaha (COL) has been manufacturing LEXION combine harvesters since 1999. COL is also jointly responsible for product development of the US machines. The plant is located in the largest grain growing areas in the US and was initially operated in cooperation with Caterpillar – since 2002 fully owned by CLAAS. Today, the LEXION combine harvesters are no longer sold exclusively through Caterpillar dealers, but also through other distribution channels.[31] Until 2019 the combines produced in Omaha had a yellow and black paint. With the start of the production of the new LEXION model series for the North American market at the factory in Omaha, Nebraska color scheme changed to the typical CLAAS green-white-red.
Krasnodar, Russia
The factory in Krasnodar, located in the granary of Russia, started operations in 2005. This made CLAAS the first major agricultural engineering manufacturer to operate its own production facilities in Russia. The production facility in Krasnodar is designed for a capacity of 1,000 machines per year and aims to develop into a local center of excellence in agricultural engineering. In 2015, the company invested a further 120 million euros in the expansion of the plant. Combine harvesters are produced there including metalworking, painting and assembly.[32]
Sunchales, Argentina
As early as the 1950s, CLAAS sold harvesting machines to Argentina. The local subsidiary has existed since 2000 in Sunchales, Provinz Santa Fé. In addition, five further spare parts and service centers ensure that CLAAS service is guaranteed throughout Argentina.
In 2006 the possibility that CLAAS Argentina set up a factory in Argentina was tangible and by 2013, began to produce the TUCANO combine harvester, with a motor of 270 to 360 hp (Class VI or VIII). Models produced include the TUCANO 570,[33] TUCANO 470[34] and TUCANO 560.[35] At the same time, the company advanced assembly capacity.
In the town of Ameghino, Buenos Aires, CLAAS manufactures headers and other equipment and components.
Chandigarh, India
CLAAS opened a plant near Chandigarh in 2008. It is located 300 km north of New Delhi, in the middle of the most fertile areas of Northern India. The plant is designed for a capacity of around 900 combine harvesters per year. The CROP TIGER combine harvester is mainly produced in the Chandigarh plant in both wheeled and TERRA TRAC tracked versions. With the crawler tracks, this machine is particularly suitable for wet soils and is therefore sold in Southern India, Sri Lanka, South Korea and other South-East Asian countries. The wheeled version of the CROP TIGER is mainly used in dry conditions such as in Northern India, the Middle East and Africa.
