By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Farm equipment manufacturers are trying to create global hardware standards that will allow agricultural machinery from different companies to work together more easily.

“We’re aggressively trying to push standards,” explained Curt Blades, senior vice president of agricultural services for the Assoc. of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). “The goal is better ‘plug and play’ performance. We want to make sure there is universal acceptance around the world of this technology.

“As technology becomes more sophisticated, there are more unknowns if it will work. We want as much uniformity as possible around the world.”

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF), a global coalition, was co-founded by AEM 10 years ago. The organization is charged with building and implementing the standards.

Key to reaching the goal of global compatibility is ISOBUS, an effort by the agricultural equipment industry to standardize connection and function between power units and implements, Blades noted.

“It allows machines to work with each other,” he said. “What AEF is doing is important work, work AEM supports. The challenge with ISOBUS is the markets of Europe and the markets of the United States are different. What works in Europe doesn’t necessarily work in the United States due, in part, to the market and the scale and size of equipment.”

A cornerstone of AEF’s work is implementing international electronic standards, the organization said. “(Members) work to improve cross-manufacturer compatibility of electronic and electric components in agricultural equipment and to establish transparency about compatibility issues,” AEF stated. “Furthermore, the AEF encourages the development and implementation of new technology.

“While AEF’s intention is to enable mutually beneficial links between companies, the effort is first and foremost directed at their farming customers, i.e. to make work easier for them and to provide them with economic benefits.”

Manufacturers meet regularly to discuss issues related to standardization, Blades said. “It’s easy for them to get together,” he noted. “Agreement is another story. We advise them to continue to work toward these goals. We are working to tackle it.

“Each company has its own business plan, marketing strategy. Companies might say to customers, ‘if you want it to work, go to one system.’ That’s a marketing strategy. It’s a mixed bag; we have to balance what’s right for individual companies and what’s right for the industry. The challenge is technology is moving faster than the standards process.”

The process of creating standards is never-ending, he explained. “There’s innovation and maintenance. Innovation is the fun part. We’re charting new territory. Then comes the tough part, and that’s the maintenance part. Innovation will continue to happen. We didn’t think we’d solve the problem in the 10 years since AEF was founded.”

While AEF is working on hardware compatibility, another group – AgGateway – is attempting to do the same for software, he added. Any recommendations AEF comes up with will be voluntary.

“I want to avoid any sort of mandatory compliance,” Blades explained. “I do like market-driven and voluntary compliance. If there’s a big enough market need, the compliance will be there.

“A concern is that farm equipment is more sophisticated than it’s ever been. In the past, farmers had the ability to fix equipment on their own. They might tell us they love the technology but they may also be a little scared of it. You can look at it as a hindrance or look at it as a complete benefit. It’s a tradeoff. Do we pine for the good old days or do we want the benefits of current technology?”

Blades is confident an agreement will be found. As an example, he mentioned how hard companies worked to solve problems with hydraulic hose connections.

“Previously, each company had proprietary connections,” he said. “At some point, companies agreed to get together and get some compatibility. The market will find a way, either through private solutions or farmers will find a workaround. The market will demand it. We hope to speed up the process and make it easier for farmers.”