This instalment of our Made in Ireland series takes us southeast to Carlow, a county with a rich heritage of machinery manufacturing dating as far back as the early 1900.
Located along banks of the River Barrow in the small town of Bagenalstown is Tanco, one of the country’s leading machinery manufacturers, which exports to more than 36 countries.
Aengus Lacey sales and marketing manager at Tanco.
How did Tanco come about?
The company was established in 1963. Two friends, Des Townshend and Alfie Cox, had both studied engineering in the UK. When both men returned home they found an opening in the market for the manufacturing of sheep hurdles and simple farm equipment such as gates and bale collectors.
Manufacturing began in a premises on the main street of Bagnelstown and from here the business grew. The name Tanco is derived from the surnames, Townshend and Cox. Before too long the company employed more than 100 staff, producing a wide range of machinery including fertiliser spreaders, silage sides for muck spreading trailers and grassland aerators. Tanco became widely known within farming circles, both here and across the water, for its innovative thinking and ability to quickly design and make solid solutions for its customers’ needs. In 1973, awareness of the brand had increased significantly due to success of its front-end loaders at home and in the UK. Many of these loaders are still working today.
In 1985, two years after moving to a larger purpose-built factory, the company, was approached by a Scotsman to develop a machine to wrap bales. Tanco got to work and later pioneered the development of bale wrapping equipment. Aengus said this was a major turning point for the Carlow-based business, which became one of the first Irish manufacturers to sell its bale wrapping equipment at a national and international level.
By 1996, the factory had been extended to 64,000sq ft, manufacturing an even larger range of products, which over time placed stress on both R&D and production lines. Financial instability led to the company being put up for sale, and it was soon purchased by Liam Lacey. It is now owned and run by his four sons. Liam’s first move in Tanco was to focus on a select few products. Liam bought the Satellite wrapping concept of Norwegian manufacturer Tellefsdal and developed it further, which has been a massive success for Tanco to date.
The twin dispenser satellite wrapper remains one of the best selling products for the company across the world.
Aengus said: “Rationalising product ranges allowed us to specialise and further develop our offerings. This allowed Tanco to be at the forefront, completely unique in its designs and its techniques of carrying out the tasks our products faced. The wrapping process, for example, was made faster and more efficient than before. Many of our systems were patented and still remain so today.”
Today, wrapping equipment remains a core part of the business. Tanco makes wrappers for all size round and square bales along with the manufacture of bale handling and feed equipment.
Future products
This year Tanco launched its Q series mounted wrapper. Not only is there now an option of dispensing three film rolls (Q300-V) thanks to its folding satellite arms, but it has the ability to wrap all bale sizes, square and round, fully automatically with variable speed control.
Recently the public got a glimpse of Tanco’s latest product developments, a unique triple combination mower setup. What makes it different is that the rear two mowers are trailed, taking the weight off the tractor’s rear axle. Aengus said Tanco believes there is a niche market for this kind of system: “We’ve had units in testing for a number of seasons since initially buying the concept back in 2016. Since then we’ve made a large number of changes to improve the mowers. We have done a lot of testing and continue to do more as we want to enter the market right from the start with no issues. All going to plan, units will be widely available for the 2021 season.”
It is clear from speaking to Aengus that innovation is a key attribute to Tanco’s success. Alongside mower developments, Tanco is working with TU Dublin to develop crop sensing technology whereby machines can monitor crops and make informed decisions based on quality and what lies ahead of it, ie the altering of conditioner speed according to the sward ahead of the mower.
The recently unveiled triple combination mowers.
Company rebrand
Tanco has just recently refreshed the brand with a new logo. The company will no longer be known as Tanco Autowrap, being simply called Tanco instead. Aengus said: “We wanted to reinforce Tanco’s position as a modern and contemporary manufacturer of premium agricultural equipment. We felt the old logo was outdated. The new design is a more clean-cut and precise, a better representation of the brand. We felt the simplicity of ‘Tanco’ works better considering we manufacture more than just wrappers. Autowrap still remains as product name for the wrapper range.”
As of October past, Tanco was accredited ISO 9001:2015 certification, which means the company meets international standards from a management, manufacturing and service point of view. This standard ensures quality, safety and the efficiency of products or systems.
Threats and opportunities
From speaking with Aengus, it is clear the Tanco’s vision is to keep providing its customers with effective quality solutions. The brand wants to differentiate what it is doing with its combination mowers while focusing on technology and ways farmers can be more efficient in their work.
Not only are there opportunities, but there are also threats. Aengus said the UK accounts for 10% of the businesses export market: “It’s more so the uncertainty that’s been building in the runup to Brexit – people have been holding back. If it was to happen one way or another farmers would regain confidence and start buying again.
A welder at Tanco \Dylan Vaughan
“Obviously dairy and beef markets on a worldwide scale have a knock-on effect to our business. If farmers aren’t receiving a good price for their produce its likely they’ll be slower investing in machinery and equipment. Exports currently account for 94% of our business, exporting to 36 countries.”
Profile
Business: Tanco
Established: 1963 by Des Townshend and Alfie Cox
Managing director: Adrian Lacey
Employees: 60
Address: Bagenalstown, Co Carlow
Products: Bale wrapping, handling and feed equipment
Made in Ireland is an ongoing series in which the machinery team at the Irish Farmers Journal will visit manufacturers throughout the island of Ireland. Many of these manufacturers are seen as among the best in the world. Our goal is to highlight the standard of engineering and degree of innovation that takes places in these rural businesses before they export all across the globe.
This instalment of our Made in Ireland series takes us southeast to Carlow, a county with a rich heritage of machinery manufacturing dating as far back as the early 1900.
Located along banks of the River Barrow in the small town of Bagenalstown is Tanco, one of the country’s leading machinery manufacturers, which exports to more than 36 countries.
Aengus Lacey sales and marketing manager at Tanco.
How did Tanco come about?
The company was established in 1963. Two friends, Des Townshend and Alfie Cox, had both studied engineering in the UK. When both men returned home they found an opening in the market for the manufacturing of sheep hurdles and simple farm equipment such as gates and bale collectors.
Manufacturing began in a premises on the main street of Bagnelstown and from here the business grew. The name Tanco is derived from the surnames, Townshend and Cox. Before too long the company employed more than 100 staff, producing a wide range of machinery including fertiliser spreaders, silage sides for muck spreading trailers and grassland aerators. Tanco became widely known within farming circles, both here and across the water, for its innovative thinking and ability to quickly design and make solid solutions for its customers’ needs. In 1973, awareness of the brand had increased significantly due to success of its front-end loaders at home and in the UK. Many of these loaders are still working today.
In 1985, two years after moving to a larger purpose-built factory, the company, was approached by a Scotsman to develop a machine to wrap bales. Tanco got to work and later pioneered the development of bale wrapping equipment. Aengus said this was a major turning point for the Carlow-based business, which became one of the first Irish manufacturers to sell its bale wrapping equipment at a national and international level.
By 1996, the factory had been extended to 64,000sq ft, manufacturing an even larger range of products, which over time placed stress on both R&D and production lines. Financial instability led to the company being put up for sale, and it was soon purchased by Liam Lacey. It is now owned and run by his four sons. Liam’s first move in Tanco was to focus on a select few products. Liam bought the Satellite wrapping concept of Norwegian manufacturer Tellefsdal and developed it further, which has been a massive success for Tanco to date.
The twin dispenser satellite wrapper remains one of the best selling products for the company across the world.
Aengus said: “Rationalising product ranges allowed us to specialise and further develop our offerings. This allowed Tanco to be at the forefront, completely unique in its designs and its techniques of carrying out the tasks our products faced. The wrapping process, for example, was made faster and more efficient than before. Many of our systems were patented and still remain so today.”
Today, wrapping equipment remains a core part of the business. Tanco makes wrappers for all size round and square bales along with the manufacture of bale handling and feed equipment.
Future products
This year Tanco launched its Q series mounted wrapper. Not only is there now an option of dispensing three film rolls (Q300-V) thanks to its folding satellite arms, but it has the ability to wrap all bale sizes, square and round, fully automatically with variable speed control.
Recently the public got a glimpse of Tanco’s latest product developments, a unique triple combination mower setup. What makes it different is that the rear two mowers are trailed, taking the weight off the tractor’s rear axle. Aengus said Tanco believes there is a niche market for this kind of system: “We’ve had units in testing for a number of seasons since initially buying the concept back in 2016. Since then we’ve made a large number of changes to improve the mowers. We have done a lot of testing and continue to do more as we want to enter the market right from the start with no issues. All going to plan, units will be widely available for the 2021 season.”
It is clear from speaking to Aengus that innovation is a key attribute to Tanco’s success. Alongside mower developments, Tanco is working with TU Dublin to develop crop sensing technology whereby machines can monitor crops and make informed decisions based on quality and what lies ahead of it, ie the altering of conditioner speed according to the sward ahead of the mower.
The recently unveiled triple combination mowers.
Company rebrand
Tanco has just recently refreshed the brand with a new logo. The company will no longer be known as Tanco Autowrap, being simply called Tanco instead. Aengus said: “We wanted to reinforce Tanco’s position as a modern and contemporary manufacturer of premium agricultural equipment. We felt the old logo was outdated. The new design is a more clean-cut and precise, a better representation of the brand. We felt the simplicity of ‘Tanco’ works better considering we manufacture more than just wrappers. Autowrap still remains as product name for the wrapper range.”
As of October past, Tanco was accredited ISO 9001:2015 certification, which means the company meets international standards from a management, manufacturing and service point of view. This standard ensures quality, safety and the efficiency of products or systems.
Threats and opportunities
From speaking with Aengus, it is clear the Tanco’s vision is to keep providing its customers with effective quality solutions. The brand wants to differentiate what it is doing with its combination mowers while focusing on technology and ways farmers can be more efficient in their work.
Not only are there opportunities, but there are also threats. Aengus said the UK accounts for 10% of the businesses export market: “It’s more so the uncertainty that’s been building in the runup to Brexit – people have been holding back. If it was to happen one way or another farmers would regain confidence and start buying again.
A welder at Tanco \Dylan Vaughan
“Obviously dairy and beef markets on a worldwide scale have a knock-on effect to our business. If farmers aren’t receiving a good price for their produce its likely they’ll be slower investing in machinery and equipment. Exports currently account for 94% of our business, exporting to 36 countries.”
Profile
Business: Tanco
Established: 1963 by Des Townshend and Alfie Cox
Managing director: Adrian Lacey
Employees: 60
Address: Bagenalstown, Co Carlow
Products: Bale wrapping, handling and feed equipment
Made in Ireland is an ongoing series in which the machinery team at the Irish Farmers Journal will visit manufacturers throughout the island of Ireland. Many of these manufacturers are seen as among the best in the world. Our goal is to highlight the standard of engineering and degree of innovation that takes places in these rural businesses before they export all across the globe.
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