Introduction Modern Agriculture Companies
The modern agriculture sector is marked by the prominence of innovative companies that play pivotal roles in shaping the industry’s landscape.
Among the top players, Monsanto, now a part of Bayer, stands out for its contributions to genetically modified crops and agricultural biotechnology. Syngenta follows closely, demonstrating excellence in crop protection and seeds, while Cargill, a global agricultural and food conglomerate, showcases its diversified influence across the supply chain.
John Deere, a renowned name in agriculture machinery, has consistently secured a spot among the top 10, emphasizing technological advancements in farming equipment. DuPont Pioneer, now integrated into Corteva Agriscience, has made significant strides in sustainable agriculture practices. BASF and Bayer CropScience contribute to the list with their focus on agrochemicals and crop solutions. DowDuPont, which has since split into Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours, has left a lasting impact on the industry.
Completing the lineup are Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a key player in processing and trading agricultural commodities, and CNH Industrial, known for manufacturing agricultural machinery. Together, these top 10 modern agriculture companies exemplify a diverse range of expertise and innovations that drive the agricultural sector towards efficiency, sustainability, and technological excellence.
KPI for Top 10 Modern Agriculture Companies
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the top 10 modern agriculture companies can vary based on their specific business strategies, goals, and focus areas. However, here are some general KPIs that may be relevant for assessing the performance of these companies in the modern agriculture sector:
Here is KPI for Top 10 Modern Agriculture Companies:
1. Revenue and Profitability:
– Total revenue and net profit to gauge overall financial performance.
2. Market Share:
– Percentage of market share in key product categories and regions.
3. Research and Development (R&D) Investment:
– Percentage of revenue allocated to R&D for innovation in seeds, crop protection, and technology.
4. Product Portfolio Performance:
– Sales growth and market penetration for key products, such as seeds, crop protection solutions, and agricultural machinery.
5. Sustainability Metrics:
– Environmental impact assessments, adoption of sustainable farming practices, and reduction in the use of agrochemicals.
6. Digital Agriculture Adoption:
– Number of farmers adopting digital farming technologies and the growth of digital farming services.
7. Customer Satisfaction:
– Customer feedback and satisfaction scores to assess the effectiveness of products and services.
8. Supply Chain Efficiency:
– Inventory turnover rates, on-time delivery metrics, and supply chain cost-effectiveness.
9. Employee Productivity and Satisfaction:
– Employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity metrics.
10. Community Impact:
– Social responsibility and community impact, including initiatives related to rural development, education, and support for local communities.
These KPIs provide a holistic view of a company’s performance, covering financial health, innovation, sustainability, customer relations, and overall contributions to the agricultural industry. The specific metrics may vary based on the company’s focus and industry trends. Companies may also track additional KPIs that align with their unique goals and objectives.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies
The top 10 modern agriculture companies represent a dynamic and influential force in shaping the agricultural landscape.
Here is the list of Top 10 Modern Agriculture Companies
1. Monsanto (now part of Bayer)
2. Syngenta
3. Cargill
4. John Deere
5. DuPont Pioneer (now part of Corteva Agriscience)
6. BASF
7. Bayer CropScience
8. DowDuPont (now Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours)
9. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
10. CNH Industrial
From industry giants like Monsanto, contributing to genetic advancements, to Syngenta’s expertise in crop protection, these companies collectively drive innovation and sustainability. Cargill, with its global footprint in agriculture and food, and John Deere, a leader in advanced farming machinery, highlight the diverse expertise within the sector. DuPont Pioneer’s integration into Corteva Agriscience underscores the emphasis on sustainable agricultural practices, while BASF and Bayer CropScience contribute with cutting-edge agrochemicals and crop solutions.
The legacy of DowDuPont, now split into Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours, continues to influence the industry, joined by Archer Daniels Midland’s prowess in processing agricultural commodities and CNH Industrial’s manufacturing excellence in agricultural machinery. Together, these companies shape the future of modern agriculture through innovation, technology, and a commitment to global food security
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: Monsanto (now part of Bayer)
One of the key players in the top 10 modern agriculture companies is Monsanto, which has become an integral part of Bayer. Monsanto, historically recognized for its pioneering work in genetically modified crops and agricultural biotechnology, now operates under the umbrella of Bayer.
This integration has strengthened Bayer’s position in the agriculture industry, allowing for a broader portfolio of products and technologies aimed at addressing the challenges faced by modern agriculture. The combined expertise of Bayer and Monsanto underscores their commitment to advancing agricultural innovation and contributing to the sustainable development of the global food supply chain.
Product of Mosanto
Monsanto, now a part of Bayer, was widely known for its contributions to agricultural biotechnology and the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Some of Monsanto’s notable products included:
1. Roundup: A widely used herbicide containing glyphosate, originally developed by Monsanto. This product faced controversy and legal issues due to its association with potential environmental and health concerns.
2. Roundup Ready Seeds: Genetically modified seeds designed to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup. This allowed farmers to use Roundup for weed control without harming their crops.
3. Bt Cotton: Genetically modified cotton that expresses a toxin from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), providing resistance to certain pests.
4. GMO Corn and Soybeans: Monsanto developed genetically modified varieties of corn and soybeans with traits such as resistance to pests and herbicides.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: Syngenta
Syngenta is a prominent player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Renowned for its expertise in crop protection and seeds, Syngenta has made significant contributions to the agricultural industry.
The company focuses on developing innovative solutions to enhance crop yields, improve resilience against pests and diseases, and promote sustainable farming practices. Syngenta’s commitment to research and development has positioned it as a key player in the global agricultural sector, addressing challenges and contributing to the advancement of modern agriculture.
Products:
Syngenta is well-known for its comprehensive range of agricultural products, focusing on crop protection and seeds. Their product portfolio includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and seed varieties designed to enhance crop productivity and protect against pests and diseases. Syngenta’s seeds often incorporate advanced technologies, such as genetic traits for pest resistance and improved yields.
Market Share:
Syngenta holds a significant market share in the global agrochemical and seeds industry. The company’s market presence is especially notable in sectors like crop protection, where its products play a crucial role in ensuring crop health and productivity. The exact market share can vary by region and product category. As of my last update, Syngenta was acquired by ChemChina in 2017, and subsequently, it became part of the China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina). Changes in ownership structures can influence market dynamics and market shares.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: Cargill
Cargill is a significant player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. As a global agricultural and food conglomerate, Cargill has a diverse presence across various segments of the supply chain. The company engages in the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products, including grains, oilseeds, livestock feed, and food ingredients.
Cargill’s impact extends beyond primary production, with involvement in trading commodities, processing food products, and providing services related to agriculture. The company plays a vital role in ensuring a stable and efficient global food supply chain.
Product:
Cargill operates across a wide spectrum of products within the agriculture and food industries. Its product portfolio includes:
– Grains and Oilseeds: Cargill is involved in the production and trading of grains such as corn, wheat, and soybeans, as well as oilseeds like soybeans and sunflower.
– Livestock Feed: The company produces and sells animal feed and nutrition products for various livestock, contributing to efficient and healthy animal farming.
– Food Ingredients: Cargill is a major supplier of food ingredients, offering a range of products like sweeteners, starches, and other additives to the food industry.
– Trading and Processing: Cargill is a key player in commodity trading, processing agricultural commodities like cocoa, coffee, and cotton.
Market Share:
Cargill holds a substantial market share in the global agricultural and food industries due to its diversified operations. The company’s influence spans from the production and processing of agricultural commodities to the provision of food ingredients and services. Cargill’s market share can vary across different sectors, including grains and oilseeds, livestock feed, and food ingredients.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: John Deere
John Deere is a prominent player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Renowned for its expertise in manufacturing advanced farming machinery and equipment, John Deere has had a substantial impact on the agricultural industry. The company is particularly recognized for its innovative approach to technology in agriculture, offering a range of products such as tractors, harvesters, precision farming tools, and autonomous solutions.
John Deere’s commitment to providing farmers with cutting-edge technology and efficient equipment has solidified its position as a leader in the modern agriculture sector. The company’s influence extends globally, contributing significantly to the mechanization and technological advancement of farming practices.
Product:
John Deere is renowned for manufacturing a wide array of advanced farming machinery and equipment, catering to various aspects of modern agriculture. The company’s product portfolio includes:
– Tractors: John Deere produces a range of tractors with various power capacities and features, incorporating cutting-edge technology for efficiency and precision.
– Harvesters: The company manufactures combine harvesters and other harvesting equipment designed to enhance productivity during crop harvesting.
– Precision Farming Tools: John Deere is a pioneer in precision agriculture, offering technologies like GPS-guided systems, data analytics, and variable rate applications to optimize farming practices.
– Autonomous Solutions: Exploring the frontier of agricultural technology, John Deere has been developing autonomous and semi-autonomous machinery to increase efficiency on the farm.
Market Share:
John Deere holds a significant market share in the global agricultural machinery sector. The company’s reputation for producing reliable and technologically advanced equipment has solidified its standing in the market. The exact market share can vary by region and product category, but John Deere is consistently recognized as one of the leading providers of agricultural machinery worldwide.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: DuPont Pioneer (now part of Corteva Agriscience)
DuPont Pioneer, now integrated into Corteva Agriscience, has been a key player among the top modern agriculture companies. Recognized for its contributions to seed technology and agricultural innovation, DuPont Pioneer brought advanced seed varieties to the market, focusing on improved yields and resilience. As part of Corteva Agriscience, the company continues to play a significant role in shaping the future of agriculture.
Product:
Corteva Agriscience, which includes the legacy of DuPont Pioneer, offers a diverse range of agricultural products, emphasizing seeds and crop protection solutions. The product portfolio includes:
– Seeds: Corteva is known for its advanced seed technologies, providing farmers with a variety of seeds tailored for improved yields, pest resistance, and other desirable traits.
– Crop Protection: The company develops and offers a range of crop protection solutions, including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, to address challenges in pest management and disease control.
– Digital Agriculture: Corteva has also ventured into digital agriculture, providing farmers with tools and technologies for precision farming, data analytics, and decision-making.
Market Share:
Corteva Agriscience holds a substantial market share in the global agricultural industry, particularly in the seeds and crop protection sectors. The company’s legacy, including DuPont Pioneer, has contributed to its influence in the market. The exact market share can vary by region and product category.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: BASF
BASF is a significant player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Known for its contributions to the agricultural industry, BASF operates in various segments, focusing on the development and production of agrochemicals and crop solutions. The company plays a crucial role in providing farmers with innovative products to enhance crop yields, protect against pests and diseases, and promote sustainable farming practices.
Product:
BASF is recognized for its extensive portfolio of agrochemicals and crop solutions. The company’s product offerings include:
– Agrochemicals: BASF develops herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides designed to address various challenges in crop protection, supporting farmers in managing pests, diseases, and weeds effectively.
– Seeds and Traits: BASF has ventured into seed technology, working on developing improved seed varieties and traits to enhance crop performance and resilience.
– Biological Solutions: Emphasizing sustainable agriculture, BASF offers biological solutions that harness the power of naturally occurring organisms to enhance plant health and protect against pests.
Market Share:
BASF holds a significant market share in the global agrochemical and crop protection industry. The company’s influence extends across various regions, contributing to its standing as one of the key players in modern agriculture. The exact market share can vary by product category and geographic region.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: Bayer CropScience
Bayer CropScience is a significant player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Renowned for its contributions to agrochemicals, seeds, and crop protection solutions, Bayer CropScience operates within the broader framework of Bayer AG. The company focuses on developing innovative products to address challenges faced by farmers, promote sustainable agriculture, and enhance overall crop productivity.
Product:
Bayer CropScience, as part of Bayer AG, offers a comprehensive portfolio of products in the agricultural sector. The company’s product range includes:
– Crop Protection Solutions: Bayer CropScience is known for developing a variety of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides to protect crops from pests, diseases, and weeds.
– Seeds and Traits: Bayer CropScience is involved in seed development, providing farmers with advanced seed varieties and traits designed to improve yields and enhance crop resilience.
– Digital Farming: Embracing modern agricultural technologies, Bayer CropScience has ventured into digital farming solutions, offering tools and technologies for precision agriculture, data analytics, and farm management.
Market Share:
Bayer CropScience holds a significant market share in the global agricultural industry, particularly in the areas of crop protection and seeds. The company’s influence extends globally, contributing to its standing as one of the major players in modern agriculture. The exact market share can vary by product category and geographic region.
Bayer AG. Market dynamics can change, and the latest information will provide the most accurate insights into the company’s standing in the market.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: DowDuPont (now Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours)
DowDuPont, now separated into Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours, has been a significant entity among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. As of my last update in January 2022, both Dow Inc. and DuPont de Nemours continue to contribute to the agricultural sector with their respective expertise.
Dow Inc
Product:
Dow Inc., as part of its agricultural solutions division, offers a range of products for modern agriculture. This includes:
– Crop Protection Solutions: Dow provides herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides to help farmers protect their crops and improve yields.
– Seeds and Traits: Dow is involved in seed technologies, working on developing seeds with improved traits to enhance crop performance.
Market Share:
Dow Inc. holds a significant market share in the global agricultural industry, particularly in the areas of crop protection and seeds. The company’s influence extends globally, contributing to its standing as a major player in modern agriculture.
DuPont de Nemours
Product:
DuPont de Nemours, with a focus on agriculture, provides products that include:
– Seed Technologies: DuPont works on developing advanced seed varieties and traits to improve crop yields and resilience.
– Crop Protection: The company offers a range of solutions to protect crops from pests, diseases, and weeds.
Market Share:
DuPont de Nemours holds a considerable market share in the global agricultural industry, especially in the segments of seeds and crop protection. The exact market share can vary by product category and geographic region.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is a significant player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Renowned for its role in processing and trading agricultural commodities, ADM operates globally, contributing to various aspects of the agricultural supply chain. The company plays a crucial role in the transformation of raw agricultural products into an array of food, feed, and industrial products.
Product:
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) operates across diverse segments of the agricultural supply chain, providing a wide range of products and services:
– Processing and Manufacturing: ADM is involved in the processing and manufacturing of agricultural commodities, producing items such as oils, sweeteners, and proteins.
– Trading and Merchandising: The company engages in the trading and merchandising of agricultural commodities, connecting producers and consumers around the world.
– Ingredients for Food and Feed: ADM produces ingredients used in the food and feed industries, including additives, flavors, and nutritional products.
Market Share:
ADM holds a significant market share in the global agribusiness sector, particularly in the processing and trading of agricultural commodities. The company’s influence spans various regions and product categories within the agricultural supply chain.
The top 10 modern agriculture companies: CNH Industrial
CNH Industrial is a prominent player among the top 10 modern agriculture companies. Renowned for its manufacturing excellence in agricultural machinery, CNH Industrial operates globally, providing a diverse range of equipment and solutions for modern farming practices. The company is well-known for its brands, including Case IH, New Holland Agriculture, and STEYR, offering a variety of tractors, combines, and other agricultural machinery.
Product:
CNH Industrial, specializing in agricultural machinery, offers a comprehensive range of products designed to meet the needs of modern farming:
– Tractors: CNH Industrial manufactures a variety of tractors with different power capacities and features to suit various agricultural applications.
– Combines and Harvesters: The company provides combines and harvesters for efficient crop harvesting, contributing to increased productivity.
– Planting and Seeding Equipment: CNH Industrial offers equipment for planting and seeding, supporting precision farming practices.
– Other Agricultural Machinery: The company produces a diverse range of agricultural machinery, including hay and forage equipment, sprayers, and material handling equipment.
Market Share:
CNH Industrial holds a significant market share in the global agricultural machinery sector. The company’s influence extends across various regions, contributing to its standing as one of the major players in modern agriculture. The exact market share can vary by product category and geographic region.
Conclusion The top 10 modern agriculture companies
The top 10 modern agriculture companies represent a diverse and dynamic industry that plays a pivotal role in feeding the world’s growing population.
Companies such as Bayer CropScience, Dow Inc., DuPont de Nemours, CNH Industrial, and others contribute to the advancement of agriculture through innovations in seeds, crop protection, machinery, and digital farming technologies. Their comprehensive product portfolios and substantial market shares underscore their influence in shaping the future of sustainable and efficient farming practices.
As the agricultural landscape evolves, these companies continue to lead the way in providing solutions that address the challenges faced by farmers and contribute to the global food supply chain. It’s essential to stay informed with the latest developments and insights from these companies to understand their ongoing impact on the modern agricultural sector.
https://www.exaputra.com/2023/12/top-10-modern-agriculture-companies.html
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
BladeBUG Tackles Serial Blade Defects with Robotics
Chris Cieslak, CEO of BladeBug, joins the show to discuss how their walking robot is making ultrasonic blade inspections faster and more accessible. They cover new horizontal scanning capabilities for lay down yards, blade root inspections for bushing defects, and plans to expand into North America in 2026.
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Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining Light on Wind. Energy’s brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering Tomorrow.
Allen Hall: Chris, welcome back to the show.
Chris Cieslak: It’s great to be back. Thank you very much for having me on again.
Allen Hall: It’s great to see you in person, and a lot has been happening at Blade Bugs since the last time I saw Blade Bug in person. Yeah, the robot. It looks a lot different and it has really new capabilities.
Chris Cieslak: So we’ve continued to develop our ultrasonic, non-destructive testing capabilities of the blade bug robot.
Um, but what we’ve now added to its capabilities is to do horizontal blade scans as well. So we’re able to do blades that are in lay down yards or blades that have come down for inspections as well as up tower. So we can do up tower, down tower inspections. We’re trying to capture. I guess the opportunity to inspect blades after transportation when they get delivered to site, to look [00:01:00] for any transport damage or anything that might have been missed in the factory inspections.
And then we can do subsequent installation inspections as well to make sure there’s no mishandling damage on those blades. So yeah, we’ve been just refining what we can do with the NDT side of things and improving its capabilities
Joel Saxum: was that need driven from like market response and people say, Hey, we need, we need.
We like the blade blood product. We like what you’re doing, but we need it here. Or do you guys just say like, Hey, this is the next, this is the next thing we can do. Why not?
Chris Cieslak: It was very much market response. We had a lot of inquiries this year from, um, OEMs, blade manufacturers across the board with issues within their blades that need to be inspected on the ground, up the tap, any which way they can.
There there was no, um, rhyme or reason, which was better, but the fact that he wanted to improve the ability of it horizontally has led the. Sort of modifications that you’ve seen and now we’re doing like down tower, right? Blade scans. Yeah. A really fast breed. So
Joel Saxum: I think the, the important thing there is too is that because of the way the robot is built [00:02:00] now, when you see NDT in a factory, it’s this robot rolls along this perfectly flat concrete floor and it does this and it does that.
But the way the robot is built, if a blade is sitting in a chair trailing edge up, or if it’s flap wise, any which way the robot can adapt to, right? And the idea is. We, we looked at it today and kind of the new cage and the new things you have around it with all the different encoders and for the heads and everything is you can collect data however is needed.
If it’s rasterized, if there’s a vector, if there’s a line, if we go down a bond line, if we need to scan a two foot wide path down the middle of the top of the spa cap, we can do all those different things and all kinds of orientations. That’s a fantastic capability.
Chris Cieslak: Yeah, absolutely. And it, that’s again for the market needs.
So we are able to scan maybe a meter wide in one sort of cord wise. Pass of that probe whilst walking in the span-wise direction. So we’re able to do that raster scan at various spacing. So if you’ve got a defect that you wanna find that maximum 20 mil, we’ll just have a 20 mil step [00:03:00] size between each scan.
If you’ve got a bigger tolerance, we can have 50 mil, a hundred mil it, it’s so tuneable and it removes any of the variability that you get from a human to human operator doing that scanning. And this is all about. Repeatable, consistent high quality data that you can then use to make real informed decisions about the state of those blades and act upon it.
So this is not about, um, an alternative to humans. It’s just a better, it’s just an evolution of how humans do it. We can just do it really quick and it’s probably, we, we say it’s like six times faster than a human, but actually we’re 10 times faster. We don’t need to do any of the mapping out of the blade, but it’s all encoded all that data.
We know where the robot is as we walk. That’s all captured. And then you end up with really. Consistent data. It doesn’t matter who’s operating a robot, the robot will have those settings preset and you just walk down the blade, get that data, and then our subject matter experts, they’re offline, you know, they are in their offices, warm, cozy offices, reviewing data from multiple sources of robots.
And it’s about, you know, improving that [00:04:00] efficiency of getting that report out to the customer and letting ’em know what’s wrong with their blades, actually,
Allen Hall: because that’s always been the drawback of, with NDT. Is that I think the engineers have always wanted to go do it. There’s been crush core transportation damage, which is sometimes hard to see.
You can maybe see a little bit of a wobble on the blade service, but you’re not sure what’s underneath. Bond line’s always an issue for engineering, but the cost to take a person, fly them out to look at a spot on a blade is really expensive, especially someone who is qualified. Yeah, so the, the difference now with play bug is you can have the technology to do the scan.
Much faster and do a lot of blades, which is what the de market demand is right now to do a lot of blades simultaneously and get the same level of data by the review, by the same expert just sitting somewhere else.
Chris Cieslak: Absolutely.
Joel Saxum: I think that the quality of data is a, it’s something to touch on here because when you send someone out to the field, it’s like if, if, if I go, if I go to the wall here and you go to the wall here and we both take a paintbrush, we paint a little bit [00:05:00] different, you’re probably gonna be better.
You’re gonna be able to reach higher spots than I can.
Allen Hall: This is true.
Joel Saxum: That’s true. It’s the same thing with like an NDT process. Now you’re taking the variability of the technician out of it as well. So the data quality collection at the source, that’s what played bug ducts.
Allen Hall: Yeah,
Joel Saxum: that’s the robotic processes.
That is making sure that if I scan this, whatever it may be, LM 48.7 and I do another one and another one and another one, I’m gonna get a consistent set of quality data and then it’s goes to analysis. We can make real decisions off.
Allen Hall: Well, I, I think in today’s world now, especially with transportation damage and warranties, that they’re trying to pick up a lot of things at two years in that they could have picked up free installation.
Yeah. Or lifting of the blades. That world is changing very rapidly. I think a lot of operators are getting smarter about this, but they haven’t thought about where do we go find the tool.
Speaker: Yeah.
Allen Hall: And, and I know Joel knows that, Hey, it, it’s Chris at Blade Bug. You need to call him and get to the technology.
But I think for a lot of [00:06:00] operators around the world, they haven’t thought about the cost They’re paying the warranty costs, they’re paying the insurance costs they’re paying because they don’t have the set of data. And it’s not tremendously expensive to go do. But now the capability is here. What is the market saying?
Is it, is it coming back to you now and saying, okay, let’s go. We gotta, we gotta mobilize. We need 10 of these blade bugs out here to go, go take a scan. Where, where, where are we at today?
Chris Cieslak: We’ve hads. Validation this year that this is needed. And it’s a case of we just need to be around for when they come back round for that because the, the issues that we’re looking for, you know, it solves the problem of these new big 80 a hundred meter plus blades that have issues, which shouldn’t.
Frankly exist like process manufacturer issues, but they are there. They need to be investigated. If you’re an asset only, you wanna know that. Do I have a blade that’s likely to fail compared to one which is, which is okay? And sort of focus on that and not essentially remove any uncertainty or worry that you have about your assets.
’cause you can see other [00:07:00] turbine blades falling. Um, so we are trying to solve that problem. But at the same time, end of warranty claims, if you’re gonna be taken over these blades and doing the maintenance yourself, you wanna know that what you are being given. It hasn’t gotten any nasties lurking inside that’s gonna bite you.
Joel Saxum: Yeah.
Chris Cieslak: Very expensively in a few years down the line. And so you wanna be able to, you know, tick a box, go, actually these are fine. Well actually these are problems. I, you need to give me some money so I can perform remedial work on these blades. And then you end of life, you know, how hard have they lived?
Can you do an assessment to go, actually you can sweat these assets for longer. So we, we kind of see ourselves being, you know, useful right now for the new blades, but actually throughout the value chain of a life of a blade. People need to start seeing that NDT ultrasonic being one of them. We are working on other forms of NDT as well, but there are ways of using it to just really remove a lot of uncertainty and potential risk for that.
You’re gonna end up paying through the, you know, through the, the roof wall because you’ve underestimated something or you’ve missed something, which you could have captured with a, with a quick inspection.
Joel Saxum: To [00:08:00] me, NDT has been floating around there, but it just hasn’t been as accessible or easy. The knowledge hasn’t been there about it, but the what it can do for an operator.
In de-risking their fleet is amazing. They just need to understand it and know it. But you guys with the robotic technology to me, are bringing NDT to the masses
Chris Cieslak: Yeah.
Joel Saxum: In a way that hasn’t been able to be done, done before
Chris Cieslak: that. And that that’s, we, we are trying to really just be able to roll it out at a way that you’re not limited to those limited experts in the composite NDT world.
So we wanna work with them, with the C-N-C-C-I-C NDTs of this world because they are the expertise in composite. So being able to interpret those, those scams. Is not a quick thing to become proficient at. So we are like, okay, let’s work with these people, but let’s give them the best quality data, consistent data that we possibly can and let’s remove those barriers of those limited people so we can roll it out to the masses.
Yeah, and we are that sort of next level of information where it isn’t just seen as like a nice to have, it’s like an essential to have, but just how [00:09:00] we see it now. It’s not NDT is no longer like, it’s the last thing that we would look at. It should be just part of the drones. It should inspection, be part of the internal crawlers regimes.
Yeah, it’s just part of it. ’cause there isn’t one type of inspection that ticks all the boxes. There isn’t silver bullet of NDT. And so it’s just making sure that you use the right system for the right inspection type. And so it’s complementary to drones, it’s complimentary to the internal drones, uh, crawlers.
It’s just the next level to give you certainty. Remove any, you know, if you see something indicated on a a on a photograph. That doesn’t tell you the true picture of what’s going on with the structure. So this is really about, okay, I’ve got an indication of something there. Let’s find out what that really is.
And then with that information you can go, right, I know a repair schedule is gonna take this long. The downtime of that turbine’s gonna be this long and you can plan it in. ’cause everyone’s already got limited budgets, which I think why NDT hasn’t taken off as it should have done because nobody’s got money for more inspections.
Right. Even though there is a money saving to be had long term, everyone is fighting [00:10:00] fires and you know, they’ve really got a limited inspection budget. Drone prices or drone inspections have come down. It’s sort, sort of rise to the bottom. But with that next value add to really add certainty to what you’re trying to inspect without, you know, you go to do a day repair and it ends up being three months or something like, well
Allen Hall: that’s the lightning,
Joel Saxum: right?
Allen Hall: Yeah. Lightning is the, the one case where every time you start to scarf. The exterior of the blade, you’re not sure how deep that’s going and how expensive it is. Yeah, and it always amazes me when we talk to a customer and they’re started like, well, you know, it’s gonna be a foot wide scarf, and now we’re into 10 meters and now we’re on the inside.
Yeah. And the outside. Why did you not do an NDT? It seems like money well spent Yeah. To do, especially if you have a, a quantity of them. And I think the quantity is a key now because in the US there’s 75,000 turbines worldwide, several hundred thousand turbines. The number of turbines is there. The number of problems is there.
It makes more financial sense today than ever because drone [00:11:00]information has come down on cost. And the internal rovers though expensive has also come down on cost. NDT has also come down where it’s now available to the masses. Yeah. But it has been such a mental barrier. That barrier has to go away. If we’re going going to keep blades in operation for 25, 30 years, I
Joel Saxum: mean, we’re seeing no
Allen Hall: way you can do it
Joel Saxum: otherwise.
We’re seeing serial defects. But the only way that you can inspect and or control them is with NDT now.
Allen Hall: Sure.
Joel Saxum: And if we would’ve been on this years ago, we wouldn’t have so many, what is our term? Blade liberations liberating
Chris Cieslak: blades.
Joel Saxum: Right, right.
Allen Hall: What about blade route? Can the robot get around the blade route and see for the bushings and the insert issues?
Chris Cieslak: Yeah, so the robot can, we can walk circumferentially around that blade route and we can look for issues which are affecting thousands of blades. Especially in North America. Yeah.
Allen Hall: Oh yeah.
Chris Cieslak: So that is an area that is. You know, we are lucky that we’ve got, um, a warehouse full of blade samples or route down to tip, and we were able to sort of calibrate, verify, prove everything in our facility to [00:12:00] then take out to the field because that is just, you know, NDT of bushings is great, whether it’s ultrasonic or whether we’re using like CMS, uh, type systems as well.
But we can really just say, okay, this is the area where the problem is. This needs to be resolved. And then, you know, we go to some of the companies that can resolve those issues with it. And this is really about played by being part of a group of technologies working together to give overall solutions
Allen Hall: because the robot’s not that big.
It could be taken up tower relatively easily, put on the root of the blade, told to walk around it. You gotta scan now, you know. It’s a lot easier than trying to put a technician on ropes out there for sure.
Chris Cieslak: Yeah.
Allen Hall: And the speed up it.
Joel Saxum: So let’s talk about execution then for a second. When that goes to the field from you, someone says, Chris needs some help, what does it look like?
How does it work?
Chris Cieslak: Once we get a call out, um, we’ll do a site assessment. We’ve got all our rams, everything in place. You know, we’ve been on turbines. We know the process of getting out there. We’re all GWO qualified and go to site and do their work. Um, for us, we can [00:13:00] turn up on site, unload the van, the robot is on a blade in less than an hour.
Ready to inspect? Yep. Typically half an hour. You know, if we’ve been on that same turbine a number of times, it’s somewhere just like clockwork. You know, muscle memory comes in, you’ve got all those processes down, um, and then it’s just scanning. Our robot operator just presses a button and we just watch it perform scans.
And as I said, you know, we are not necessarily the NDT experts. We obviously are very mindful of NDT and know what scans look like. But if there’s any issues, we have a styling, we dial in remote to our supplement expert, they can actually remotely take control, change the settings, parameters.
Allen Hall: Wow.
Chris Cieslak: And so they’re virtually present and that’s one of the beauties, you know, you don’t need to have people on site.
You can have our general, um, robot techs to do the work, but you still have that comfort of knowing that the data is being overlooked if need be by those experts.
Joel Saxum: The next level, um, commercial evolution would be being able to lease the kit to someone and or have ISPs do it for [00:14:00] you guys kinda globally, or what is the thought
Chris Cieslak: there?
Absolutely. So. Yeah, so we to, to really roll this out, we just wanna have people operate in the robots as if it’s like a drone. So drone inspection companies are a classic company that we see perfectly aligned with. You’ve got the sky specs of this world, you know, you’ve got drone operator, they do a scan, they can find something, put the robot up there and get that next level of information always straight away and feed that into their systems to give that insight into that customer.
Um, you know, be it an OEM who’s got a small service team, they can all be trained up. You’ve got general turbine technicians. They’ve all got G We working at height. That’s all you need to operate the bay by road, but you don’t need to have the RAA level qualified people, which are in short supply anyway.
Let them do the jobs that we are not gonna solve. They can do the big repairs we are taking away, you know, another problem for them, but giving them insights that make their job easier and more successful by removing any of those surprises when they’re gonna do that work.
Allen Hall: So what’s the plans for 2026 then?
Chris Cieslak: 2026 for us is to pick up where 2025 should have ended. [00:15:00] So we were, we were meant to be in the States. Yeah. On some projects that got postponed until 26. So it’s really, for us North America is, um, what we’re really, as you said, there’s seven, 5,000 turbines there, but there’s also a lot of, um, turbines with known issues that we can help determine which blades are affected.
And that involves blades on the ground, that involves blades, uh, that are flying. So. For us, we wanna get out to the states as soon as possible, so we’re working with some of the OEMs and, and essentially some of the asset owners.
Allen Hall: Chris, it’s so great to meet you in person and talk about the latest that’s happening.
Thank you. With Blade Bug, if people need to get ahold of you or Blade Bug, how do they do that?
Chris Cieslak: I, I would say LinkedIn is probably the best place to find myself and also Blade Bug and contact us, um, through that.
Allen Hall: Alright, great. Thanks Chris for joining us and we will see you at the next. So hopefully in America, come to America sometime.
We’d love to see you there.
Chris Cieslak: Thank you very [00:16:00] much.
Hillsdale College is a rightwing Christian extremist organization that ostensibly honors the United States Constitution.
Here’s their quiz, which should be called the “Constitutional Trivia Quiz.”, whose purpose is obviously to convince Americans of their ignorance.
When I teach, I’m going for understanding of the topic, not the memorization of useless information.
Here’s a story:
He had 3 days left until graduation.
Kendrick Castillo was 18. A robotics student. College bound. Accepted into an engineering program. The final week of school felt like countdown, not crisis.
Then a weapon appeared inside a classroom.
Students froze.
Kendrick did not.
Witnesses say he moved instantly. He lunged toward the attacker. No hesitation. No calculation.
Two other students followed his lead.
Gunfire erupted.
Kendrick was fatally sh*t.
But his movement changed the room.
Classmates were able to tackle and restrain the attacker until authorities arrived. Investigators later stated that the confrontation disrupted the attack and likely prevented additional casualties.
In seconds, an 18-year-old made a decision most adults pray they never face.
Afterward, the silence was heavier than the noise.
At graduation, his name was called.
His diploma was awarded posthumously. The arena stood in collective applause. An empty seat. A cap and gown without the student inside it.
His robotics teammates remembered him as curious. Competitive. Kind. Someone who solved problems instead of avoiding them.
He had planned to build machines.
Instead, he built a moment.
A moment that classmates say gave them time.
Time to escape.
Two points:
If you can read this without tears welling up in your eyes, you’re a far more stoic person than I.
Since Big Money has made it impossible for the United States to implement the same common-sense gun laws that exist in the rest of the planet, this story will reduplicate itself into perpetuity.
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