they need to get the right regulations
in place to protect employees,” says
Jérôme Bandry, secretary general of
CEMA, the European Agricultural
Machinery organisation. “ at we
have been able to access a somewhat
steady and safe supply of food is
thanks to the hard work of farmers,
distributors and retailers. Machinery
to support the farmers is crucial to
help guarantee food security. Put
simply, if farmers don’t have access to
the right equipment, services and
maintenance, they can’t work.”
Bandry has called for agricultural
machinery manufacturing to be listed
as an essential industry and speaks of
a potential food crisis if rules are not
changed. “If borders don’t remain open
for tra c and trade then you can’t
deliver machinery that has been
ordered including the spare parts and
servicing,” he says. “If Europe is
putting in place cross-border green
fast lanes which is what they are
considering, we need to be eligible for
that. We need to retain the ability to
run machinery production with access
to components. If we don’t, then you
have a supply chain that dries up and
a domino e ect. at is why it’s not
just the farmers that need to be part of
the critical sector but agricultural
machinery, too. We must retain the
ability to produce even if it’s partial.”
Bandy is also keen to highlight that
these special provisions need to be
considered urgently because
agriculture operates on the basis of
seasons – “and you can’t postpone
seasons.” If a particular month is the
time for tillage, or spraying you can’t
pause and come back to it a er the
crisis is over. “We must safeguard our
sector. It’s not only about food supply
today, but six months in the future,”
says Bandry.
OEM activity
While some OEM production lines
may have been lying idle during
lockdowns, many were (are still are
being) put to good use producing PPE
(personal protective equipment) or
even in food distribution (see Protect
and serve overleaf).
To celebrate the huge achievements
of the engineering community, not just
in o -highway vehicle production, but
right across the manufacturing sector,
MA Business, the publisher of iVT,
has begun a new initiative
#EngineeringHeroes. rough its
COVID19
iVTInternational.com June 2020 17
/iVTInternational.com