Auburn Consolidated Industries Acquires Great Dane

Auburn Consolidated Industries (ACI) and John Deere signed papers Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005, entering into a strategic alliance. As part of the agreement, ACI acquired Great Dane commercial mowing equipment assets and will be moving the manufacturing of Great Dane products and the John Deere Quik-Trak product family to its Auburn, Neb. facility. These products were previously manufactured at John Deere Turf Care near Raleigh, N.C. ACI manufacturers EverRide mowers.

“John Deere elected to form a strategic alliance with ACI and sell Great Dane so we can focus our engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources to the John Deere brand of commercial mowing equipment,” said John Jenkins, C&CE Division President.

A family owned business, ACI first opened its doors 80 years ago as a simple blacksmith shop and has grown into a modern fabrication and assembly factory featuring laser-cutting, robotic welding and powder paint technologies.

“ACI’s goal is to provide a great place to work for our employees and an exceptional product for our clients,” said Donna Skaggs, owner of ACI. “Our reputation stands true – we produce quality products and will continue to do so for years to come.”
 
John Deere elected to partner with ACI because ACI has a proven record of success in the commercial mowing market and has been a highly regarded supplier for John Deere, previously earning partner status – the highest ranking – in John Deere’s Achieving Excellence Program.

“We are confident ACI has the ability to manufacture products for John Deere that meet our stringent quality standards, as well as ensure Great Dane is a competitive ongoing player in the commercial mowing market place,” Jenkins said.

Philip Kirwan-Hamilton, President of ACI, is excited to add the Great Dane product line to the business. “John Deere introduced ACI to lean manufacturing several years ago, making ACI a much more efficient, economical company,” he said. “We are excited and honored to continue working with John Deere and to begin manufacturing stand-on mowers. There is an enormous, untapped potential for such mowers in this market.”
 
An OEM since 1976 for companies such as Honda, Kubota, Case New Holland and John Deere, ACI also manufactures EverRide commercial lawnmowers, which are sold by more than 400 dealers in the United States and Australia.