PAGE 4

REVIVING

TRADITION AT THE MECCA OF RACING

2 RENTAL DIRT

FALL 2018

INSIDE TRACK

REST ASSURED

In the rental business, you don’t have time for downtime. You expect reliability out of your rental fleet because the last thing you want is for your customer to be waiting on a machine to be serviced or repaired.

Our customers have high expectations when they buy a machine from John Deere. Quality is a core value at John Deere, and we take an enormous amount of pride in making our machines as reliable and productive as possible. As you’ll learn in the article on page 12, quality is more than a catchword at John Deere. It is part and parcel to everything we do, from product research and design to the machines rolling off the assembly line. And it’s embedded in our culture. Everyone — from engineers to assembly-line workers to product inspectors and testers — works together to ensure each machine is worthy of the name that goes on it.

But meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations doesn’t begin and end with building great machines. We stand behind them with beefed up standard warranties. For example, our compact machines are backed by a two-year/2,000-hour full-machine warranty.*

Because when it comes to your John Deere equipment, you can rest assured that we’re always looking for ways to help you maximize uptime.

Brian Wells

Manager, Rental MarketingWorldwide Construction & Forestry

* Warranty expires two years after the delivery receipt date or after 2,000 machine hours, whichever occurs first. Offer valid at participating dealers only. Some restrictions may apply. See your dealer for complete details.

CONTENTS

3

C O V E R S T O RY

REVIVING TRADITION AT THE MECCA OF RACING

PAGE 4

An excavating contractor feels the

excitement of life at the racetrack —

and works to redefine the course in

a pretty big way — using John Deere

machines and the Kespry Aerial

Intelligence System.

DELIVERING THE PROMISE

PAGE 12

For those who deliver on the

John Deere core values, quality

isn’t just a catchphrase or a lofty

ideal — it’s a standard that’s built

into everything we do.

WITH JOHN DEERE?HOW DO YOU

Share your story for the chance to be featured.

It’s your world. How are you pushing it? Hauling it? Loading it? Leveling it? Digging it?

And most important of all — running it? Tell us how you do more than just move earth.

We want to hear your story.

* No purchase necessary. Customer must sign a John Deere promotional release.

Submit your RUN [ YOUR ] WORLD story to dirteditor@JohnDeere.com, and we’ll send you a free pocketknife or gloves* to show our appreciation!

CHOICE OFFREE GIFTS*

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g it?

arth.

CHFR

4 RENTAL DIRT

{ A N D T H E T E C H N O L O G Y T H A T H E L P S M A K E I T H A P P E N }

COVER STORY

5

— Kevin Miller, President and CEO, United States Auto Club

6 RENTAL DIRT

As the pace car flees the track, the roar of 24 engines packed with over

400 horses of pure fury collectively redline, blasting the go-kart-sized midget

cars around the track at an explosive pace. The cataclysm of controlled

chaos is striking, filling the chests of thousands of spectators with thunder

— which is further amplified and rivaled by the crowd’s roars of excitement.

As the dirt flies and adrenaline surges with every jockey of position, the greatness

of this age-old tradition is made all the grander by its high-profile setting.

he Indianapolis Motor Speedway

(IMS), the birthplace of Indy cars and incubator of racing innovation, continues to set the pace by expanding on its 109-year history.

September 2018 marks the green

flag flying for the first sanctioned dirt-track race on these hallowed grounds.

THE PLAYERS

Three primary parties have made

the new dirt-track venture possible. The United States Auto Club (USAC), the world’s largest race-sanctioning

body, has been the primary driver.

“Our main goal is getting the next generation excited about and involved in racing,” explains Kevin Miller, president and CEO of USAC. “Whether in a go-kart or Indy car, where better to host races than at

the track every 13-year-old dreams

of driving someday? Many Indy and

NASCAR™ racers come up through dirt tracks, and bringing that tradition to IMS is something we’re very

excited about.”

– continued

7

As for the folks performing the

dirt work on the track, there’s a unique tie to the project. “We actually own a race team of three vehicles, each with its own driver, that travels the full circuit to all national events,” says Scott Petry, founder, owner, and president of Petry Excavating of Greenfield, Indiana. “There’s so much history

at Indy. I was honored when they

asked if I wanted to be involved.”

Lastly, West Side Tractor Sales of Indianapolis donated the

equipment and technology for the project. “On-site here, we’ve got a 750K LGP Dozer with SmartGrade™ technology, another 750K LGP with Topcon aftermarket technology, a Topcon-

ready 772GP Motor Grader, and a 317G Compact Track Loader equipped with the Leica Level-Best System,” Mason Adkins, grade control specialist for West

Side, lists the impressive lineup of equipment. “Tying all that technology together is our Kespry Aerial Intelligence System.”

8 RENTAL DIRT

Kyle, Carson, Keenan, and Scott Petry are the three generations that make Petry Excavating a family company. Other members of the clan are Scott’s sons Carter, who recently joined the Marines, and Kirby, who is in military intelligence.

PIT STOP WITH THE PIT CREW

A HISTORY OF INNOVATION

Where better to implement cutting-

edge technology than at IMS, a racetrack purpose-built for spurring innovation? “We’re pretty much pulling out all the stops on this one,” explains Adkins. “They wanted to base this new track

at IMS on the Kokomo track just north of here, so we flew the Kespry drone to gather that survey data. Then we mapped it onto the Google Earth image

of IMS and adjusted the data points and track size to fit the space.”

Getting the base information was just the start of the Kespry system and

GPS technology advantage. “After test-running the track, we realized the smaller version set corners that were

too tight for this type of race. The files

are flexible, so all we had to do was adjust the data in the CAD file and re-upload it to the machines. From there you pretty much press ‘go’ and the machines do the work.”

– continued

Scott Petry, founder, owner, and president of Petry

Excavating, Greenfield, Indiana, owes the better

part of his knowledge and experience in construction

to working for his father-in-law. “He’s just a one-

in-a-million guy. He’s taught me so much. When it

came time to branch out on my own, it was an easy

transition.”

Having recently hit the company’s 25-year milestone,

Petry is on the up and up when it comes to its usual

projects including hotels, shopping centers, car

dealerships, and the occasional racetrack. “We have

14 employees, and two of them are my sons. They

both went to college and started as laborers here.

Eventually, we were growing so fast, we had to

change how we worked. I’m still involved every

day, but they’ve really taken the load off me.

“Running Deere equipment is in our blood. My

grandfather was a Deere mechanic, my dad worked at

Deere for a while, and we always ran Deere equipment

on the family farm. When I first started the company,

West Side Tractor Sales was the only dealership to give

me the time of day and set me up for success. It’s just

been a great relationship — Deere has supported us

100 percent along the way, and we appreciate what

they are and what they stand for.”

9

LEADING THE PACK

According to Adkins, the best part about the technology is how simple it is to use. “I can hand a customer the iPad, and they’ll have the site set up and the drone running within five minutes. It’s extremely user friendly.”

As for Petry, the return on investment with SmartGrade is what sealed the deal. “We’re a

smaller company, so it was a big chunk to bite off, but it paid for itself in six to eight months.

We did a big parking-lot project

without the technology that took about four-and-a-half days to finish. The next week we put the

technology on and did a similar

job — a nine-acre lot and building pad — and finished grading in a day and a half, with two guys instead of six. We’d never go

without it now.”

Petry Excavating, Inc. is serviced by West Side Tractor Sales, Indianapolis, Indiana.

As a kid growing up in Mississippi,

I knew the John Deere logo

probably before I could talk.

I can’t tell you how much I love

having that logo on my race car.

Our team takes a lot of pride

in bringing the John Deere

car to the track, and the fans

have gone nuts over the paint

scheme. It’s been awesome

to represent a brand that I’ve

been a fan of my whole life.

After running the circuit from 1996–2000, the John Deere NASCAR™ made a limited two-race return this year as part of an integrated national media buy — one being at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joining drivers Chad Little and Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was proud to contribute to the car’s legacy.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Check out the video at:

JohnDeere.com/RentalDirt

10 RENTAL DIRT

FINE-TUNING WITH THE

KESPRY AERIAL

INTELLIGENCE

SYSTEM

The Kespry drone flies over the jobsite to

quickly and precisely gather survey data.

Using that data, CAD files are created

to illustrate what the site will become.

The computer does the rest! Simply drive

the machine and the blade automatically

adjusts as needed.

Those files are easily uploaded to

GPS-enabled machines.

Mason Adkins, grade control specialist for West Side Tractor Sales, demonstrates how simple it is to employ the Kespry Aerial Intelligence System on a jobsite.

11

THE PROMISEDELIVERING

HANGING ABOVE THE FACTORY FLOOR AT JOHN DEERE

DAVENPORT WORKS, A PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED BANNER

BEARS AN INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE FROM THE COMPANY’S

FOUNDER: “I WILL NEVER PUT MY NAME ON A PRODUCT THAT

DOES NOT HAVE IN IT THE BEST THAT IS IN ME.” ALTHOUGH

TODAY’S STATE-OF-THE-ART MANUFACTURING FACILITIES AND

JOHN DEERE’S GRAND DETOUR, ILLINOIS, BLACKSMITH SHOP

ARE 181 YEARS APART, THE SAME PHILOSOPHY THAT GUIDED

THE 19TH-CENTURY ENTREPRENEUR IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL.

– continued

It all begins in engineering.

“It’s important that we design

the product in such a way that satisfies the customer and simplifies assembly,” explains Eric Hillary, Engineering Manager. “One of the advantages of being located next to

manufacturing is that we know how things are going together.” Close communication and interaction between design and production teams are vital components of

building world-class products.

QUALITY IS EVERYTHING

At John Deere, quality isn’t just a cliché or word of the day, but a time-honored

credo that guides the way everything is done.

Just ask Andy Benko, Director of Quality. As “gatekeeper of quality,” it’s his team’s job to help ensure that every machine rolling off the assembly lines exceeds customer needs and expectations. “Our employees understand that when they come to work, what they do that day matters,” says Benko. “Their ability to deliver quality products helps enable our customers’ success.”

12 RENTAL DIRT

ISEI WILL NEVER PUT MY NAME ON A PRODUCT THAT DOES NOT HAVE IN IT THE BEST THAT IS IN ME.” – JOHN DEERE, FOUNDER

“

13

RENTAL DIRT14

So is contact with customers. “Gold Key” events, at which purchasers visit John Deere factories to observe their machines being built, have proven especially invaluable. “It’s really nice to talk to each customer about why they purchased their machine and how they plan to use it,” says Lindsay Grant, Backhoe Team Assembler. “Hopefully, they see the pride and care we take in

building a quality product for them.”

continuous improvementWhen an employee on the man-

ufacturing floor sees a process or design that can be improved, they’re encouraged to suggest a better way. It’s called Continuous Improvement. Far more than just a philosophy, it gives employees a voice in improving the product, empowering them to share their

hands-on knowledge and expertise, while financially rewarding them for their ideas.

“It happens every day,” says Grant. “New ideas that help make our jobs easier are welcomed. Several sugges-

tions that I’ve submitted have been adopted, which makes me feel like a valued employee.”

When a workable idea is approved, resources are quickly allocated and changes made to implement the

improvement.

“Just having those ideas available to us is so powerful,” says Yvonne

Scheiffer, Quality Engineering Supervisor. “It gives us an opportunity to engineer solutions for common issues or defects, and it gives us a chance to get everyone committed

to the process.”

the people advantageEvery company likes to tout its innovation and technology. We do, too. But today’s great innovation will soon be yesterday’s history.

At John Deere, it’s the culture and the employees who establish that

culture that make the difference.

“The people who build our machines

are the heart and soul of our operation,” says Scott McDonald, John Deere Davenport Works Operations Manager. “They’re

very focused on delivering a quality product to the customer.”

And it’s not just tightening bolts and attaching things. “It’s about the attention to detail,” says Mark Dickson, John Deere Dubuque Works General Manager. “Our assemblers become craftsmen at

their jobs. Their skill set of knowing

what to look for and having a

finesse for fit and finish help make sure customers won’t experience problems down the road. We have

smart tools to check quality. But quite frankly, a lot of it you can’t check other than with the eyes of

the assemblers.”

Many John Deere craftsmen have been plying their trade for decades.

“The skill level is so important

because so much of the work they do isn’t automated,” says Mark Odegaard, Production Loader

Business Manager. “The machines we build are customized so every unit is potentially a different

configuration. It requires heavy knowledge.”

WELL-TRAINED WORKFORCE“We ask a lot of our employees, which is why we require them to be highly skilled,” says Heath Drone, Backhoe Business Unit Manager. “In addition to their experience, they go through a very robust training process.” Training is continuous and extends beyond the initial

instruction new employees receive.

John Deere welders participate in three weeks of training and, at the conclusion of that, must pass a very rigorous test based on American Welding Society and John Deere standards.

Although the tools they use appear similar, the tasks assembly-line workers perform are unique. Significant time is invested in training employees on their roles, as well as that of others on the line, so they can fill in as needed. This “cross-training” helps provide the expertise that’s vital to ensuring that the job is always done correctly, regardless of who’s doing it.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATORSEven the best-designed and -built products sometimes have issues. Discovering those imperfections

15

“When a customer receives a machine, it typically has two to three hours on it,” explains Jason Pline, Skid Steer Quality Supervisor. “We’re putting every unit through a drive-verification process. They

run it down a test track, and then up against a load to discover possible

hydraulic issues before it ships.”

Machines also undergo two or three thermal cycles, raising and lowering operating temperatures in an attempt to induce failures.

THE PURPOSE OF EVERYTHING WE DO IS TO ENSURE THAT WE’RE BUILDING PRODUCTS WORTHY OF JOHN DEERE’S NAME.”

– MARK ODEGAARD, PRODUCTION LOADER BUSINESS MANAGER,

JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS

“ NG DOIN ODM

IDU

“Obviously, quality is very important,” sums up Odegaard. “The purpose of everything we do is to ensure that we’re building products worthy of John Deere’s name.” And deserving of our customers’ trust, too.

is what Quality Manager Tracy Schrauben’s team does best. “We’ve got an excellent group of special investigators spread

throughout the factory,” she says. “They’re strategically placed and

are really good at early detection, so if they see a defect, we can address it quickly.”

“I’m all over the place — at the

beginning of the line, and at the end of the line,” explains Mike Hagen, Davenport Works Inspector. “I’m on the floor every day, inspecting the parts coming into the plant. And

checking the quality as the workers are doing their jobs — pretty much at every stage of the build.”

Hagen’s work, it seems, is never done. Even after a machine comes off the line, he inspects it for pos-

sible oil leaks. He considers his a vital role. “My job is to protect

the customer. John Deere put me here to make sure the product we run out the door is the best it can be.”

TESTING FANATicsEven after a build is complete, the inspections aren’t. Dedicated factory test facilities require each product to be put through a series of thorough trials to ensure its integrity.

DKMAG241RE Litho in U.S.A. (18-11)

JohnDeere.com/RentalSales

Our well-equipped dealer network understands your equipment isn’t just inventory.

So you get support and parts availability when you need it, delivering maximum rentability — and profits.

SUPPORT. So you can RUN [YOUR] WORLD.

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