One of the world’s largest agricultural equipment makers will be featured on a cable TV special this week. The John Deere Harvester Works in the Quad Cities is the focus of the National Geographic Channel’s show " Ultimate Factories " on Wednesday night. Deere spokeswoman Mary Leonard says the factory is where combines are made.
Leonard says the factory is made up of about three-point-four million square feet of space, which includes 49 robotic welders, eight laser cutters and nine miles of overhead track. She says the series spotlights major "super" factories around the world that utilize advanced engineering and manufacturing processes to build products that have major influences on society.
Leonard says the show will zero in on combine manufacturing. She says Deere was a natural to be included since it’s one of the world’s largest combine factories that’s also very technologically advanced. About two-thousand workers keep the plant in East Moline, Illinois, humming, though it’s actually Deere’s second-largest factory, behind the Waterloo (Iowa) Works where tractors are made.
The show will premiere on Wednesday at 9 P.M. and will air again at least three more times this week.