Challenge
Great Plains Manufacturing, an industry-leading global manufacturer of agricultural machinery, was on a mission: reduce unplanned downtime, cut operational costs, and outproduce the competition. But at two critical manufacturing facilities, reactive maintenance practices were standing in the way.
Production delays from equipment failures put delivery targets at risk. The team needed faster insight into potential issues before breakdowns caused missed orders or wasted man-hours. With ambitious performance goals and a continuous improvement culture already in place, Great Plains was actively seeking a solution that could match their momentum.
They didn’t just want a vendor. They wanted a partner.
Solution
Great Plains deployed Tractian condition monitoring at two high-priority sites. Technicians and leadership sat down together to rank assets by criticality and began with those that would cause the most damage if they failed. In under three weeks, four major failures were avoided—including mechanical looseness, lubrication issues, and unbalance.
With early insights flowing in, Great Plains Manufacturing's maintenance and operations teams began using the data to make strategic decisions: Should they replace this asset entirely or opt for a targeted rebuild? Which machines could be monitored longer before intervention? Tractian real-time condition monitoring gave them the confidence to answer these questions with data, not guesswork.
Impact
Great Plains Manufacturing's high-performing culture met a high-performing tool—and the result was immediate value:
- Four early-stage failures caught within three weeks of deployment
- Strategic repairs prioritized over costly full replacements
- Reduced downtime and improved technician resource allocation
- Greater leadership visibility into asset health and maintenance costs
Beyond the numbers, the success at Great Plains stems from how the team works. The VP of Manufacturing & Operations and his team came in with questions, plans, and urgency—and their proactive adoption made all the difference. Tractian’s Customer Success team stayed engaged, helping refine strategic maintenance plans and set the stage for long-term reliability.
This partnership isn’t about solving problems after they happen. It’s about making maintenance smarter, leaner, and more valuable to the business.
What's Next
Great Plains Manufacturing isn’t running 24/7, and it isn’t overloaded with assets. But downtime still costs—whether through missed orders or wasted hours. Their team continues to lean into the value of early detection and real-time insights, using Tractian to align their reliability goals with the daily realities of production.
For them, maintenance is no longer just a cost center. It’s a key driver of productivity, strategy, and competitive advantage.
