Case Study: Great Plains Manufacturing achieves 3× faster design and 10× sales growth with PTC's Creo

Great Plains Manufacturing - Customer Case Study

Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kansas-based maker of planting and seeding equipment, faced the complex engineering challenge of designing very large, high‑precision machines (the 50‑ft, 4,000‑part 3S‑5000 seeder) that must place tiny seeds accurately across varied soils while meeting strict weight, transport, and performance goals. To avoid costly physical prototyping and speed up development, Great Plains turned to PTC and its Creo CAD and simulation tools (with Windchill for collaboration) to validate designs from concept through production.

Using PTC’s Creo suite, Great Plains simulated, iterated, and collaborated across U.S. and U.K. teams to bring the 3S‑5000 from concept to production in just 18 months (a threefold design‑time reduction), produce equipment 40% lighter than traditional concepts, achieve seed‑placing at 35% higher speeds, and introduce innovations like vertical tillage and twin‑row spacing — results that helped second‑year seeder sales grow tenfold. PTC’s tools also enabled concurrent engineering and lightweight viewables that accelerated feedback and market readiness.

Great Plains Manufacturing

Tanner McClure

Product Engineer