Kinze maintains a culture of creativity

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Williamsburg may not seem like a hotbed of cutting-edge developments in engineering, but Kinze is like an innovation island among the cornfields.

From Interstate 80, drivers see the towering pillar of planters and the museum proudly labeled "Kinze Innovation Center." What they don't see is more than a million square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space, all connected by a series of underground tunnels. Employees zip around on go-carts, and as a visitor I felt like I was visiting a farm-equipment version of Willy Wonka's factory.

Sometimes, we get in the mindset that the world of start-ups belongs purely to city-dwelling, T-shirt clad 20-somethings. My work with the Creative Corridor Project showed me that simply is not true - innovative things are happening in all corners of our region, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

Take, for example, Kinze: what started as a simple welding shop has grown to one of the largest manufacturers of specialty agriculture equipment, while remaining privately held. Although farming is one of the world's oldest professions, the company still is finding ways to make it new.

"Innovation is what has set us apart from the competition," said Susanne (Kinzenbaw) Veatch, vice president and chief marketing

officer of Kinze and daughter of founder Jon Kinzenbaw. "We understand that if you have a new idea, especially now that technology is such a player, constantly changing the marketplace, you have to be able to quickly get those out to the marketplace in order to stay ahead of your competition."

Consider Kinze Autonomy - a tractor that can drive itself. The system is being tested in the fields of three large farmers, after years of research and development to bring a new idea to reality.

It came from a conversation more than 10 years ago, when Kinzenbaw went to lunch with his COO to have a wide-ranging discussion of what the future of farming might look like.

It came from an analysis of other industries, such as mining, where drones and autonomy already are used.

It came from observing industry trends worldwide, such as the rise of larger and larger farms. While some farmers now work thousands of acres, the brief window of opportunity when conditions are optimal for planting and harvest is as slim as ever.

It came from focus groups with Kinze customers, who lamented that people, not technology, was their biggest challenge. They struggled to find seasonal workers who would treat their land and equipment like it was their own - so Kinze engineers started to think about taking people out of the equation.

And, it came from a family that still farms their own land here in Eastern Iowa.

That's not to say the idea is unique - Kinze executives acknowledge that their competitors are working on similar systems. They hope the company's flat leadership structure can give them an agility edge, and noted that at Kinze, big decisions can be made over lunch.

"When you look at the timing - we decided to go, and then three years later we are debuting," said Luc van Herle, director of global sales and service.

That culture of innovation dates back to the childhood of Kinzenbaw. Veatch recalled a story of her father building a go-cart to get from farm to farm when he was young. He was the type of child who loved to tinker and build his own toys.

"As a boy, he was always looking for ways to make things easier," she said.

In 1965, he started Kinze as a welding shop in Ladora, but his creativity shined through. Instead of simply repairing the machines his customers brought in, he would look for ways to make them better.

The rear fold planter was what put Kinze on the map. Before that, farmers would have to stop work and load a planter onto a trailer to transport it to the next field. Kinzenbaw created a planter that would fold like an umbrella so it could travel down the highway without being unhitched from the tractor.

Later, he invented an adjustable width plow, but there was no tractor powerful enough to tow it. So, he created "Big Blue" - a tractor with two of everything. With two engines, two transmissions and massive tires, Big Blue now sits in the in-house museum beneath a quote from Kinzenbaw: "When in doubt, build it stout."

Now that the company has grown to more than 950 employees in Williamsburg, Kinze's leaders are working to maintain the culture of creativity that was possible when it was a one-man shop.

"‘We've always done it this way' is like waving a red flag around here; we really do not like that sentence," van Herle said.

Process and product are part of innovation, van Herle added, citing a tweak to the assembly line that made welding large parts more ergonomic. Many of those improvements come directly from employees.

"Any idea is worth looking at, regardless of where it comes from," he said.

In the fall of 2013, Kinze opened its first international plant in Lithuania, and van Herle is working to recreate a culture with Kinze's core values there.

Meanwhile, Kinzenbaw remains president and CEO of the company. On the side, he is an avid antique tractor collector and continues to farm.

"It's just part of who we are, as a family," Veatch said.