Cummins Asia Pacific Magazine - Issue 1 2023

Must be the most decorated
harvesters in the world!
Happy customer with
Cummins-powered rice harvester.
in the paddy fields
Cummins engines and the aftersales support provided by joint venture distributor, Cummins DKSH,
have added strong impetus to the market success of Kaset Phattana, Thailand’s best known
manufacturer of rice and corn combine harvesters.
Rice is one of the main foods and sources of nutrition for Thai
people. In fact, Thailand has around 10.5 million hectares of riceproducing
farmland – the fifth-largest amount of land under rice
cultivation in the world.
In 2023-24, Thailand is projected to harvest 20.4 million tonnes of
rice while more than 8.0 million tonnes will be exported, making
the country the world’s largest exporter of rice.
Kaset Phattana, headquartered in Chachoengsao province,
has been in business for more than 40 years as a leading Thai
manufacturer of rice and corn combine harvesters and a variety of
other agricultural equipment.
High reliability and durability are at the top of Kaset Phattana’s
requirement list, and for good reason. With the vast amount
of land under rice cultivation, harvesters are often operating
Kaset Phattana
management team
in remote, undulating terrain that is not easily accessible for
machinery repair and maintenance.
To help Kaset Phattana meet its requirements, Cummins DKSH
has been in partnership with the manufacturer since 2018,
supplying Chinese-built mechanical engines from DCEC (Dongfeng
Cummins Engine Co) for its rice and corn combine harvesters.
Cummins puts its case
Prior to Cummins’ involvement, Kaset Phattana was using
second-hand Japanese truck engines to power its harvesters.
“We convinced Kaset Phattana that new Cummins product,
initially the 240 hp 6CTA engine, offered far greater reliability along
with reduced fuel consumption and a factory-backed warranty,”
says Apiched Bunluenuecharee, assistant general manager of
Cummins DKSH Thailand.
“The success of the 6CTA led to the introduction of the 130 hp
4BTA and 180 hp 6BTA in Kaset Phattana products.”
The acceptance of Cummins power in the paddy fields is shown
in the number of engines delivered to Kaset Phattana since 2020
when 32 units were supplied that year. In 2021, deliveries climbed
to 186 followed by 280 in 2022, and the upward trajectory is
expected to continue.
The introduction of electronic Cummins engines by Kaset
Phattana seems not far away.
“Our engineers have carried out an IQA (Installation Quality Audit)
with Kaset Phattana on the QSB6.7 engine and a prototype is
now operating in a field trial,” says Apiched Bunluenuecharee.
“We’re getting very positive feedback about performance and
fuel consumption.”
Cummins DKSH Thailand has an excellent reputation for aftersales
support, a key reason for the strong partnership with Kaset
Phattana and its technicians in the field. “Training is provided to
the OEM technicians and our own technicians work closely with
end-user customers on product familiarisation whenever the
opportunity arises,” says Bunluenuecharee.
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