Erhebung der Sichtweise potenzieller Kund*innen in der frühen Phase der Produktentwicklung am Beispiel mechanischer Kulturpflegemaschinen

Abstract

An examination of current political frameworks, as well as developments in the agricultural technology market, highlights the growing relevance of mechanical methods for weed control. In particular, against the backdrop of stricter regulatory frameworks in chemical plant protection and an increasing societal awareness of environmentally friendly farming methods, mechanical crop care machines are gaining in importance. However, due to these developments, it is essential to identify the specific customer requirements and expectations of agricultural practice. With the help of this basis, the customer-orientated development and commercialisation of mechanical weed control machines is possible. The starting point of this work was the examination of fundamental aspects of customer-oriented product development, current developments and influencing factors in the field of future plant protection, as well as general information on plant protection systems and mechanical weed control machines. The empirical foundation of this work was a qualitative survey of 24 experts from agricultural practice, including farmers and contractors. As part of the interviews, assessments of the future of crop protection and the requirements of potential customers for mechanical crop-care machines were gathered as a basis for product development. In addition, relevant influencing factors regarding barriers to the acquisition and use of mechanical regulation machines were examined in order to derive recommendations for marketing and service. Based on the results of the qualitative survey, four personas were developed, each representing a potential customer group for mechanical weed control machines: • conventionally operating farmers who exclusively use chemical plant protection and have not yet adopted mechanical methods • farmers in conventional arable farming using mechanical crop care machines • farmers in organic/biological farming • contractors offering plant protection services A total of six fields of action were identified based on the characteristics of these personas and the findings from the interviews: • field of action: Future Plant Protection • field of action: Product Development • field of action: Market Potential • field of action: Marketing and Service • field of action: Public Perception • field of action: Machine Focus For each of these fields, potential measures were described to support agricultural engineering companies in the customer-oriented development and successful commercialisation of mechanical weed control machines.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Matthias Trimmel (Supervisor)