In Thailand’s rice-growing regions, harvesting at the right time has a big impact on farmers’ lives. It can be the difference between a stable income and serious financial trouble. That difference often comes down to a small window of time. The rice harvest season lasts 30–45 days between October and December. If one combine harvester breaks down, a farmer can lose 20,000 baht per day (about USD 500). Every day truly counts. Faced with this harsh reality, Siam Kubota Corporation (SKC) moved beyond traditional ways of working to create a new system. That system, called the "War Room," is now recognized in Southeast Asia as an advanced model for agricultural support.
Challenges Created by Geography
Thailand’s farming areas face specific problems because of how they are spread out. According to SKC’s survey, about 35,000 of the country’s 42,000 combine harvesters (83%) are concentrated in the Northeast. The North has 4,000 machines (10%), and the Central and Southern regions together have only 3,000 (7%). This uneven distribution puts a heavy burden on the harvest season. Work is concentrated in a short period, so farmers need reliable machines and immediate service support. If a machine stops even for one day during the rice harvest, the financial loss to a farmer can be very large.
In Thailand, the combine harvester is utilized intensively for only 30–45 days
during the harvest season from October to December.
The War Room Born from a Crisis
In 2012, SKC faced a major turning point. At that time, its main model, the DC95GM combine harvester, had serious quality problems and the company received many customer complaints. The existing service system could not handle the harsh conditions of the harvest season. Parts shortages, slow decision-making, and a need for better coordination between departments made the situation worse.
In 2012, customer dissatisfaction with the quality of the DC95GM
combine harvester that led to a severe protest at SKC.
The financial impact was also severe. Combine operators usually earn USD 18,000 per season, but if they miss a harvesting opportunity, they can quickly lose money. Because the harvest period is short, even one day of machine downtime can cause losses of several hundred dollars. This crisis pushed SKC to build a completely new system instead of just making small fixes. That system is today’s "War Room."
War Room’s Solution: Speed Is the Top Priority
After the 2012 crisis, SKC built a special service system that is completely different from its previous approach. At the center of this system is "Well Communication Operation." The War Room works as an advanced command center during the 30–45 day harvest season. By 2024, it was directing and coordinating more than 325 strategically placed rapid-response (flash service) teams across the country.
Flash service team
Spare parts team
War Room team
The mission of this system is simple: prioritize speed at every stage. The five action guidelines created to achieve this are as follows.
- Fastest decision making - Simplify the chain of command and eliminate unnecessary delays.
- Fastest finding spare parts - Use multiple supply routes such as dealers, suppliers, production lines, and new inventory.
- Fastest delivery - Deliver needed parts to customers within 24 hours.
- Fastest repairing - As soon as parts arrive, complete repairs on-site immediately.
- Fastest communication - Keep constant contact with customers throughout the entire service process.
Collaboration among all departments within SKC
(including the Service, Spare Parts, QA, and Manufacturing teams)
to work together as "One Team"
Technology Integration: Early Response Is the Key to Preparedness
The War Room’s strength is its high-level integration of technology, logistics, and human expertise. At its core is the philosophy "Earlier Acknowledged, Better Prepared". The system identifies problems before farmers ask for help and positions the needed resources in advance.
The Kubota Authorized Dealer System (KADS) connects more than 86 dealers across Thailand and monitors everything from service requests to inventory levels. In addition, apps send real-time data on each combine’s location, work progress, and maintenance needs.
All of this information is aggregated into internal analytics tools, which create dashboards that visualize regional demand heatmaps, seasonal forecasts, and location-based service requests.
A comprehensive monitoring dashboard that provides visualization of regional demand
heatmaps, seasonal trend forecasts, and location-based service requests.
Performance Proven by Results
The War Room measures its performance with its own indicators. In SKC’s 2024 data, it reached these remarkable figures:
- First response within 15 minutes: 100%
- Parts delivery within next day: 99.8%
- Repairing within next day (After parts arrival): 100%
- Customer Satisfaction Index: 98.3%
These numbers are more than statistics for farmers. They are proof of reliable support that protects the short harvest window and provides financial peace of mind.
Working as One Team with effective communication will strengthen Kubota’s position
on the customer’s side.
Organizational Reform: Eliminating Bottlenecks
Another innovation of the War Room is a complete overhaul of the decision‑making process. In the past, multiple layers of approval meant important decisions could take several days. Now, decisions can be made within one day after a service request. Field operators can immediately decide on parts procurement, team dispatch, and resource allocation.
This change has removed the inefficient approval delays that were used to slow down customers and service teams. Equal in importance to technological advances, this organizational reform is a key pillar supporting the War Room.
Beyond Crisis Response: A Model for the Future
The change from the 2012 crisis to the current War Room shows how agricultural machinery businesses can adapt to local market conditions. Advanced data analysis, combined with measures based on local farming situations and farmers’ livelihoods, has created a new standard for agricultural support in Southeast Asia.
Going forward, SKC aims for "ZERO BREAKDOWN." The company is moving beyond reactive, after-the-fact service toward predictive maintenance and predictive analytics. Using data analysis and machine learning, SKC plans to detect signs of trouble early and prevent breakdowns before they happen.
SKC’s attentive care and quick response have resulted in happy and satisfied
customers throughout the harvest season.
Lessons for World-Class Standards
The War Room is a clear example of how digitalization can change a traditional industry like agriculture. Its success was not just about introducing technology. It came from a thorough analysis of the real problems and incomes of Thai farmers.
As global challenges such as climate change, labor shortages, and food security grow more serious, this model can become a scalable solution for logistics support in precision agriculture. Good agricultural support is not just about supplying high‑performance machines. It is about understanding the importance of time in farming and building systems that protect that time.
In Thailand’s rice regions, every day of the harvest period matters. The War Room has shown that innovation born from a crisis can transform an entire industry. A system that protects both crops and farmers’ livelihoods is where the future of agricultural technology lies.
