New Holland celebrates 120th anniversary of Zedelgem plant

Assembly line at the Zedelgem plant (Photo: New Holland)

New Holland is celebrating the 120th anniversary of the company’s manufacturing site in Zedelgem, Belgium.

What is now the Zedelgem Global Centre of Harvesting Excellence can trace its roots back to 1906 when Leon Claeys founded an engineering workshop on the site to manufacture threshing machines. Landmarks of the this period included the 1952 launch of the MZ, Europe’s first self-propelled combine harvester.

In 1964, the Claeys business was purchased by Sperry Rand, then owner of Hew Holland. In 1991, New Holland came under ownership of the Fiat Group.

Zedelgem is now the global production site for what are reported to be the world’s highest capacity combines, the New Holland CR10 and CR11 Twin Rotor models. These feature power output of up to 775 hp and a 20,000 liter grain tank capacity. The machine further incorporate the latest is automation and AI tech to maximise performance.

Other models produced by the 3,000 employees across the 36-hectare site include the CX combines, FR Forage Cruiser forage harvester and the New Holland BigBaler range. Machines manufactured in Belgium are exported to more than 130 countries.

Between 2022 and 2025, New Holland invested €150 million at the Zedelgem site to expand R&D, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. This included a full redesign of manufacturing for the CR10 and CR11.

Each of these units comprises around 11,000 individual parts, some of which are covered by 75 new patents. Each machine takes approx. 500 hours to build.