I.
Quality
Consistent, measurable delivery of products and services to specification. Low defect rates, proactive issue resolution, documented corrective action.
Case study, 2025 Achieving Excellence programme
Port to dealer.
Benchmark set.
First in New Zealand.
How a fifty-year-old Palmerston North logistics operator became the first company in New Zealand to reach Partner-level supplier status in John Deere’s global Achieving Excellence programme.
Score
480/500
DIFOT
98%
Categories
8 of 8
Recognition ceremony
Moline, IL
April 2026
April 2026
John Deere's Achieving Excellence programme has evaluated thousands of suppliers worldwide since it was founded in 1991. Partner-level is the highest rating it awards. In the 2025 programme, PTS Logistics became the first logistics provider in New Zealand to reach it.
How Partner Status is earned
John Deere's Achieving Excellence programme has evaluated suppliers since 1991. Participating suppliers are assessed annually across eight areas, including quality, delivery, safety, process alignment and sustainability.
Partner Status is the programme's highest recognition. PTS scored 480 out of 500 in the 2025 assessment, achieving the required standard across all eight categories.
The whole chain. One operator.
PTS manages John Deere's New Zealand logistics operation from port arrival through to dealer delivery. That includes port operations, storage at our 25,000m² Palmerston North facility, container and flat-deck transport, and delivery to dealerships around the country.
Because those parts of the operation sit within PTS, John Deere has one team accountable across the chain.
98% DIFOT.
Delivered In Full, On Time, or DIFOT, is the measurement that matters most in industrial logistics. It's a binary metric: either the right product arrived at the right place on the right day, or it didn't. John Deere, like most serious OEMs, tracks it rigorously.
PTS has maintained 98% DIFOT for John Deere consistently, year after year, across thousands of movements. The same for pick-up performance, the rate at which we're on-site and ready when container or flat-deck loads are released from port.
These are not marketing numbers. They're the numbers John Deere audited during the Achieving Excellence evaluation.
Achieving Excellence framework
Eight disciplines.
Measured annually.
The John Deere Achieving Excellence programme assesses suppliers across eight areas. Partner-level status requires top-tier performance in each. Here’s what was evaluated, and what we delivered.
II.
Delivery
On-time performance across every touchpoint. DIFOT benchmarks met or exceeded consistently, with transparent reporting and root-cause analysis when slippage occurs.
III.
Process alignment
Operational processes that integrate seamlessly with John Deere's systems and workflows. Shared dashboards, agreed KPIs, continuous process improvement.
IV.
Value creation
Demonstrable cost efficiency and continuous-improvement initiatives. Identifying savings opportunities, reducing demurrage and detention exposure, optimising asset utilisation.
V.
Relationship
Responsive, collaborative engagement across operational and strategic levels. Senior leadership accessibility, honest communication, commitment to long-term partnership.
VI.
Safety
Formal safety programme with established metrics, training, and continuous improvement targets. Zero-tolerance culture for unsafe behaviour.
VII.
IT integration
Fully integrated data systems supporting real-time visibility, track-and-trace, and electronic documentation exchange. Competent in-house IT supporting rapid issue resolution.
VIII.
Sustainability
Independently assessed environmental and social governance performance. Progress against targets measured and reported through recognised external frameworks.
The ceremony
Accepted in person,
on behalf of the team back home.
In April 2026, CEO Ray Roberts and owner Scott Miers travelled to John Deere’s Moline, Illinois facility to accept the Partner-level supplier recognition at the annual Achieving Excellence ceremony.
The trip marked the culmination of years of operational discipline and a deepening relationship with John Deere’s global and regional teams. The recognition belongs to everyone who builds, drives, dispatches, and manages the day-to-day reality of the operation in New Zealand.
It’s the kind of moment that only comes around once in a company’s history. It arrived in our fiftieth year.
Let’s talk about
what you need moved.
Tell us how you're handling it today and what you'd like to do better. We'll tell you where PTS could fit.
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