A shared vision.

How do you fill a legend's shoes? It all depends on the legend.

"Jim Irwin left me in a great position with a seasoned team of committed professionals," says Frank Anglin III, who replaced the retiring Irwin in February 2005 as vice president of the Case IH North American Agricultural Business. "I'm just building on the momentum with the team that Jim put in place and finding ways to take the Case IH brand to the next level."

To Anglin--just as it did to Irwin--this means a continued relentless focus on dealer and customer satisfaction. "These aren't just buzzwords," Anglin notes. "These are the keys to building brand loyalty and driving sales, now and in the future.

"It's all about the basics, building quality products that deliver our customers value and providing service that meets and anticipates customer needs," Anglin continues. "These are the principles that Jim Irwin believed in, and they're the principles that I believe in. My job is to keep the organization focused. To give people the tools to succeed, and then to get out of their way."

TECHNOLOGY IN THE NAME OF PRODUCTIVITY

Technology has always been one of the primary tools for success at Case IH, and Anglin aims to keep it that way. "Ag operations continue to get larger and more sophisticated," he says. "This has opened the door for some of our more recent product introductions, such as our AFX8010 AxialFlow combine and our 500 horsepower Steiger tractor."

Yet, while "bigger" is obviously part of the formula, Anglin says that in the end, it's all about productivity. "Increasing demand for productivity is what's really driving the desire for more technology--for products like our AFS AccuGuide autoguidance system. Jim Irwin understood this and helped shape an organization that is well equipped to meet our customers' need for ever-increasing productivity to drive down their production costs."

MEETING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS ALL ALONG THE CHAIN

According to Anglin, "Jim also recognized from the beginning that production ag customers are astute business people and that we need to relate to them as such. He believed strongly that our field people could not be just order takers; they needed to meet the varying needs of our broad dealer network. For some dealers that means helping drive retail. For others it means serving as a business consultant."

Anglin explains that the vision of adding value from the company to the dealer and from the dealer to the customer will continue to drive Case IH. "We just finished several weeks of dealer training in Phoenix--a program that Jim inspired--and the whole message there was about identifying value for dealers and customers.

"Selling on specifications alone is a thing of the past. People want to know the cost of ownership and the return on investment," Anglin continues. "Our job is to make that business case and ensure that our brand offers a competitive advantage for our customers."

WELL POSITIONED IN EMERGING MARKETS

There's also a large--and rapidly growing--segment of customers who don't fit the traditional production ag mold. Call them rural Americans, country-home families, rustic homesteaders or small farmers, these customers need different products and levels of service.

"This market segment represents a great opportunity for Case IH," says Anglin. "Under Jim's direction we introduced some new products, such as the Farmall line, and new approaches to appeal to this audience as well."

From the largest cotton grower in the Delta to the smallest suburban "weekend farmer," Irwin long ago recognized the significance of serving diverse market segments--and he helped position Case IH to capitalize on them.

And the man who's now filling Irwin's rather large shoes is most appreciative of those efforts. "Jim's contributions to the Case IH brand are immeasurable. I'm very fortunate to be leading the Case IH sales team and continuing to build on many of the great traditions that Jim Irwin established," Anglin concludes.