Since I’ve found that many AgWired fans are not familiar with Leica Geosystems, a new sponsor of ours, I thought it would be helpful to post a little background for you. You can also listen to an interview I did with Rob Kiernan at the recent AG CONNECT Expo. In it he said:
“Being a late entrant in the precision ag market, we have had the advantage of looking at what the market is seeking and identifying the gaps.” One of the gaps Leica identified was that of timely service. To address this need, Leica developed the Virtual Wrench™ service.
“Virtual Wrench is the world’s first remote service option. It gives the people who are operating the machinery the ability to reach out to the service team without having to leave the cab. Through cell phone connectivity, our technicians can look right inside that machine and see exactly what the operator is seeing. We’re able to help people with that service very quickly and very efficiently anywhere there is cell phone service.”
Translated, that means farmers aren’t waiting for a service truck to arrive in their field to fix the problem. Leica has found that about 90 percent of the service calls related to ag electronics can be “repaired” remotely, as it is primarily a matter of adjusting the various settings to the terrain and the task at hand.
So just what is Leica Geosystems? To start with it’s part of a nearly 200-year-old Swiss company with a long heritage of pioneering measurement solutions around the world. That background has been why they believe they can offer a strong lineup of precision ag products to today’s farmers.
Here’s some more information from a company background sheet:
Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 3,500 employees in 28 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world.
Leica Geosystems is part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden.
Part of Leica family of companies, Leica Geosystems is a separate company from optics and microsystems.
Leica Geosystems – Ag Guidance Solutions introduced their first product to the agriculture market in the fall of 2007 with the Leica mojoRTK auto-steer system to compete with RTK (2-inch or better accuracy) auto-steer systems marketed by Trimble, Auto Farm and others. A few unique selling propositions of the Leica mojoRTK system include:
Virtual Wrench capabilities – remote online service tool that allows technicians to adjust settings on the system remotely.
Ability to connect to True RTK Networks – uses an internal cell modem to work with DOT and private networks supported by a server allowing users to have seamless coverage often at no charge – eliminating costly subscription fees or expensive personal base stations
Simplified steering solutions – easy to install non-hydraulic steering options and integration to third-party equipment to simplify the installation process. However, this sometimes results in lower accuracy steering solutions as well.