posted
on Wednesday, August 15, 2018
in
SNPartners
In the summer of 2018, I returned to my hometown of Chillicothe, Missouri where I'd accepted an internship at my local Sydenstricker Implement dealer. If you're not familiar with Sydenstrickers it's a family owned John Deere dealer that services central and northern Missouri in 12 dealership locations. My interest in spending my summer at Sydenstrickers was sparked from my experiences running Deere equipment in the field. After meeting with store manager, Dylan Lange, who devised a plan for how I would spend my summer.
Over the three months I was employed at the store, Dylan decided I'd be the most valuable to the Parts Department, as they have a steady flow of customers as well as responsibilities unloading and loading parts every single day.
In this clip I am seen completing a parts transfer, which is a common task for me. A parts transfer is essentially Sydenstrickers own UPS system. Other locations will fax us a parts request that they do not have, but they do need. We then package and ship the part via our own Sydenstricker trucks. They meet drivers from all store locations at headquarters in Mexico, Missouri, where they exchange all parts and return home.
This particular transfer was headed for Tipton, Missouri and was bound to arrive there in two days. After I found the part, packaged it, I then typed the transfer number into the computer to let the Part's Department know, in Tipton, that the part is coming and should arrive in two days.
Another common task I completed was loading net wrap, whether this was because of my overall muscular appearance, or simply because I was low man on the totem pole, I enjoyed helping our customers throughout the summer.
Another task I assisted in regularly was unloading the daily stock order. This was an all-hands-on-deck event, that requires each part to be individually scanned and placed in the specified location in the warehouse.
My experiences in the sales department began rather humbly. I began starting out weed-eating, spraying, and mowing our show lot, making things look nice and tidy. Then I quickly grew into helping set up off-site displays at my local county fair, which is pictured here. I was even lucky enough to be asked to shoot a cover photo for the yearly John Deere calendar, which is pictured here. Actually, that didn't really happen, I just thought so. I was also fortunate enough to tag along on a new bailer start up. This experience was eye-opening in the fact that I had just completed an Axios class this spring semester at Mizzou, where we specifically learned about the importance of customer follow-up. Seeing this interaction first hand was extremely beneficial. I'd like to give a shout out to Doctor Sowers for providing this information in class.
My most anticipated experience upon applying for this internship, was I had an opportunity to work in the precision agriculture field, specifically with equipment. My expectations were met when I began assisting Allen with RTK equipment which is pictured here.
I had the opportunity to help construct several RTK towers on the top of some very tall grain legs. By placing these towers strategically, much like a cell phone company would, to provide coverage for farmers wishing to use the equipment. What is RTK you might ask? Well, it is the strongest, most precise level of accuracy that can be utilized by farmers to assist their auto track functions. In essence, it provides the strongest 4G LTE coverage like it would for your cell phone, and the signal spans for a 12 mile radius. I was able to see the work come full circle when planting with an auto-steering tractor this summer. Needless to say, these were some of the straightest rows that I had ever seen.
All in all, my experiences this summer provided valuable experience to direct my future career path. I would like to thank each and every one of the employees at the store for taking the time to teach me the ropes. I value the lessons learned and look forward to building my career accordingly.