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Dawn Equipment soon will open a new manufacturing facility in Milwaukee, where it will build its own full-size implements.

CEO Joe Bassett said the move is part of the company’s broader strategy to transition away from aftermarket attachments and “more into the OEM space.”

Dawn’s row unit production will remain at its Sycamore, Ill., operations, with those row units to be mated to the frames produced at the Milwaukee plant.

The move toward full-size implements is part of Dawn Equipment’s plan to double the size of the company. The plan includes introducing planter row units and eventually its own high-speed planter.

Bassett said he believes growers are trending away from customizing their equipment through attachments.

“The aftermarket era, where growers assemble a lot of aftermarket options to customize their planters, I think is over,” he said. “It’s gotten to be too much. There are too many gadgets. By the time you attach everything, the only thing left of the original planter is a couple pieces of metal. So we said, ‘Why don’t we just replace that too and make it a complete solution?’”

Bassett forecasts there will be a decline among mid-market shortline manufacturers and a trend toward the smallest and largest specialty companies, especially as digital solutions continue to advance.

Source: Ag Equipment Intelligence