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How do you make a good thing great? Spudnik Equipment Co. LLC has been the leading U.S. potato equipment manufacturer since brothers Carl and Lee Hobbs invented the potato scooper in 1958. Next came the potato piler, a tiered conveying system that stores the potatoes neatly. In the coming years, the company would add on a full-line of equipment for the potato farming industry. Machines for planting, harvesting, storing and transporting means that Spudnik now manufacturers 40 different equipment models, with each new model being an improvement on the old design or a new innovation. 

“Spudnik was founded in 1958 and the first product came up with a way to improve the hard labor work of loading potatoes in and out of storage,” CEO Rainer Borgmann explains. “We really started the potato equipment industry and now we handle everything potatoes. We are a full-line machine supplier for all the potato needs of our customers.”

Being the first to do something doesn’t necessarily equate to being the best, however. That comes from a solid management team who knows how to produce quality products while keeping the books balanced. It also comes from employees who have a thirst to improve those products, whether the alterations are slight or tremendous. Ultimately, when it comes to manufacturing, those who can help their clients succeed, as well, are the companies who will win out. 

“My focus is always to improve the customer’s bottom line,” Borgmann says. “And when you have an entire company focused on the same goal – the customer’s bottom line – your customers are, in return, going to support your company. We want our customers to know that they need to make only one phone call to us, and we’re going to build them the perfect equipment specific to their farm’s needs.”

In 2002, Spudnik embarked on a major transition that would ultimately prove beneficial for the customers. The company was acquired by Germany-based Grimme, which Borgmann says is the world’s largest potato equipment manufacturer, with more than 1,500 employees worldwide. The same year, Borgmann, who began working with Grimme in 1999, transferred to Spudnik as a project engineer, eventually landing at CEO in 2008.

One of the first orders of business after the acquisition was consolidation. Spudnik was producing well, but it was producing from three separate Idaho facilities. The strategy was to bring all operations under one roof, so it kept its facility in Blackfoot, Idaho, and gradually shut down the other two. The construction of another building created room for administrative offices as well as additional fabrication and welding space. With all operations in one location, Borgmann explains it improved the company’s line of communication.

“It makes the wait for answers shorter,” Borgmann says. “Before that, we had to make runs getting information around and that was, as you can imagine, a kind of mess to organize. Having everybody in one space made communication way better, and the wait time between departments is way shorter. With people under one umbrella, we work together better.” 

With the entire company operating on one campus, Spudnik could focus on its end goal – making products that help its customers. Borgmann, a  mechanical engineer by trade who has been involved in manufacturing since he was young, is not only CEO, he is also Spudnik’s engineering manager. He manages a team of 15 engineers, the most of any potato equipment manufacturer in the United States, he says. Three of those engineers are dedicated solely to custom manufacturing. With the support of Grimme’s 80 engineers, Spudnik holds a significant leverage in brainpower. Last year, it introduced four new products, the most it has launched in one year. 

Two of the machines, the 880 piler and the 1860 floor bin, will join the catalog as larger-capacity products. However, the 6440 harvester is a new generation machine that Spudnik boasts can speed up harvesting by 20 percent. The 6620 Airsep is a prototype developed for east coast clients who combat rocky soils in their potato farming.

“The machine separates the rocks from the potatoes, and that is a whole new idea we have created here,” Borgmann says. “We were playing for two years in the shop with this prototype and were able to build a machine with the separator included. This could be a game-changer in that market because they are used to the old technology they have been using for the past 30 years. Now that we have this first prototype working, we will continue to improve on it next year. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, we can begin to sell some units.” 

With that goal on the horizon, Spudnik also remains focused on what customers need now. Engineers are often sent out to client’s farms to see and feel the soil and other conditions themselves, giving them detailed fodder when designing solutions. The engineers are also shipped along with new product, to test out the equipment in the field. Borgmann explains that Spudnik’s sales force, based in offices in Idaho, Maine, Washington and North Dakota, act as clients’ eyes and ears, reporting back any key trends or holes in the market. 

One trend Spudnik has been quick to answer is producing operator-independent machinery.  “Farms are larger, farmers younger, and finding skilled equipment operators is difficult,” Borgmann says. “We will be reducing the human-error element. In making the equipment more operator-independent, the farmer saves time, money, and has a better quality product. We like to set the bar for innovation and technology in the potato industry.”

The company’s ability to tackle and at times lead new trends has made it an invaluable asset to the potato industry. That value is reflected in the company’s success over the past 53 years, even during the current recession. 

“In this environment, it is necessary to have a stable company,” Borgmann explains. “We have proven to our community that Spudnik is stable. Last January we hired 40 people and we are looking to hire another 20 this January.  I’m very proud that our employees don’t have to wonder if they will have a job tomorrow. We have the most amazing group of people working here. I want them to feel valued and appreciated.”