Corporate Spotlight – AGCO

AGCO is one of the largest and most influential global brands that many people may never have heard of. That’s because AGCO is the power and the technology behind the world’s agriculture. Consider this – practically anything you eat, no matter where you live in the world, is very likely to have been planted, cultivated, harvested or brought to market utilizing equipment or technology from the largest full-line agricultural company in the world.  Specializing in ‘Farmer-focused solutions to sustainably feed our world,’ AGCO takes pride in delivering ‘High-quality, highly efficient products through high-quality, highly efficient people and practices.’

With a global manufacturing footprint, more than 3,000 dealers around the world, six industry-leading product brands and more than $12 billion in global revenues, this award-winning industry leader is one of Georgia’s rising stars in supplier diversity. Tim Millwood, the Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, leads the Supplier Diversity initiative at AGCO, whose headquarters sits just north of Atlanta.

One reason for the industry optimism about AGCO’s trajectory in Supplier Diversity is the presence of Millwood, a well-known diversity procurement veteran who previously headed up Supplier Diversity at Cummins, a leading global manufacturer of engines and power solutions. Under Millwood’s stewardship, Cummins was able to join the Billion Dollar Roundtable, the exclusive group of global companies that spend at least $1 billion per year with diverse suppliers. A native of Georgia and a Georgia Tech Engineering graduate, Millwood retired after 30 years at Cummins, where he instituted major culture change that increased the focus on supplier diversity companywide. Since joining the AGCO team only six months ago, he has been traveling the world visiting company facilities and suppliers, identifying opportunities to implement a truly inclusive procurement ethos. As he continues to familiarize himself with all of the many facets of AGCO, Millwood sees tremendous potential for diverse spend growth. His focus on delivering real change, adding additional resources to the department and the integration of supplier diversity best practices throughout the company is bound to produce positive results.

Like most progressive organizations, AGCO has implemented a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion effort that drives many aspects of company culture. Millwood sees an opportunity to leverage the company commitment to DE&I as he builds the foundation of a world-class Supplier Diversity program. AGCO was recently ranked number 71 out of America’s Top 500 Most Responsible Companies for 2023 by Newsweek Magazine, a prestigious honor that recognizes leaders in the implementation of sustainable practices. Millwood is confident that similar levels of supplier diversity achievement are possible at AGCO. “While I am still in my exploratory phase and it is too early to set specific spend targets, I am confident of our ability to substantially increase our diverse spend,” he says. “There are many opportunities I have identified to implement proven practices that will yield significant results.” Given his track record in the industry and the market power of AGCO, it is a good bet that we will see this program rapidly rising in influence and impact very soon. For more information, visit agcocorp.com.