News Release
John Deere Honors DISTek Integration, Inc. with 2022 Supplier Innovation Award
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – September 20, 2022 – DISTek Integration, Inc., an engineering services provider, was recognized with the 2022 Supplier Innovation Award from John Deere. Nathan Volkert, DISTek Software Engineer and Team Lead, created a new “blade shake” feature for crawlers that provided benefits to both the business and the end user in a substantial manner. DISTek has been providing services to John Deere for 30+ years.
Volkert’s innovation is a software-only feature and does not require any costly hardware modifications or additions in order to implement. The feature utilizes the existing mechanical parts of the vehicle and causes the hydraulic valves to operate in a sequence that shakes the blade, which causes earth material to fall from the crawler blade.
The automated blade shake provides an enhanced operating experience to the operator of the crawler. Previously, the operator would manually adjust the controls to command a shake action, changing the grade position of the blade. Due to the manual nature of this operation, efficiency and consistency were lost, in part, to the inability to precisely replicate the action. With the implementation of Volkert’s innovation, a crawler operator can use Volkert’s software feature to shake the blade with a simple press of a button, quickly and efficiently removing debris from the blade while maintaining the same grade the operator was using prior to the shake. This enhancement reduces operator run time, allows for more precise blade position, and overall, decreases emissions into the environment.
“Being recognized as John Deere’s Supplier Innovation Award recipient for 2022 is a great honor for DISTek. As an engineering services provider, developing innovative solutions that can add value to our clients and their products is our expectation,” shared Shawn Pezley, DISTek’s Vice President of Engineering. “The blade shake feature may not be seen as a big deal – automating a process that many operators probably perform manually but this creative solution provides multiple benefits. A consistent shake process that maintains the grade of the blade will not only increases the operator’s efficiency but will also reduce fuel costs and emissions.”
About DISTek
DISTek Integration, Inc., an employee-owned company, has been providing software engineering services since 1992. Our engineering teams accelerate electronics projects for OEMs of off-highway, defense, and commercial vehicles by working throughout the software development lifecycle: model-based design, embedded software development, and SIL/HIL simulators. We are experienced in electrification, autonomous vehicles, and network systems, such as J1939, ISO 11783, and rugged Ethernet. www.distek.com
