P&H Mining Equipment Inc. Internship

Ekaterina Zakharevich
I am currently a Planner/Scheduler Intern in the Aftermarket Department at P&H Mining Equipment Inc. P&H Mining Equipment is one of the two operating units of Joy Global Inc. (worldwide leader in mining solutions). Another one is Joy Mining Machinery which specializes in equipment and support of underground mine operations, where P&H Mining Equipment specializes in surface mining operations. The machines that P&H Mining Equipment manufactures and supports are used to mine coal, copper, silver, gold, diamonds and more.

My responsibilities as an intern include a wide variety of daily/weekly/monthly activities. Some of them are: evaluating lot sizes and issuing purchase requisitions, extending parts to other facilities, creating material master records, running reports and other various projects. I also assist Aftermarket Department with planning, scheduling, and calculating inventory levels.

I can say that I have learned a lot in these three months. Now when I go back and look through the notes that I made when I just started this internship I sometimes laugh thinking to myself – “How could it be so hard for me to understand such a simple thing?” Obviously I do realize that there is still a lot to learn and I want to learn as much as I can while I have this opportunity. I was also able to apply what I have learned in my SCOM classes.

There were few challenges. One of the hardest was developing a “habit” of doing certain processes/procedures working only twice a week. The good part of it is that every time I do something I remember how I did it last time and I analyze the necessary steps to complete a task. So by completing certain tasks every day when I work I manage to learn new things, exactly because I am not doing it automatically yet and I need to think what else is there I can check into to make a better decision. My supervisor and coworkers have been extremely helpful in teaching and mentoring me. They also have been very patient with me. In return for their help I am trying to learn things faster by making detailed notes and looking through them before going and asking for help. I am also constantly trying to relate what I have learned at work to what I have learned in classes and vice versa.

I found this internship at a perfect time in terms of the classes I am taking this semester plus I still have plenty of time to expand my knowledge and increase my desirability as a potential employee. This internship helped me to understand what types of skills, what knowledge and experience I should have upon my graduation to be successful in finding a job. This internship made me even more passionate about supply chain.

I would recommend everyone to start looking for an internship as early as possible, and not just for an internship but for something you think you may want to do after graduation. I am extremely glad and thankful that College of Business has this internship program.

Miller Internship

Jason Vanden Berg

Miller Electric Mfg. Co. is an industry leader in manufacturing arc welding and cutting equipment designed for manufacturing, fabrication, construction, aviation, motorsports, education, agriculture, and marine applications. Miller is owned by Illinois Tool Works (ITW), where it holds worldwide leadership by setting the standard for reliability, quality, and responsiveness.

I am currently an Operations Management Intern with the Portable Power Group at Miller Electric in Appleton, WI. I assist in day to day operations with ordering, shipping, and receiving. I am also involved with quoting, setting up production lines and long term, and other various company projects. It is a very interesting job that is teaching me a lot.

The thing I like the most about this internship is that I’m involved in decision making. I was able to be the leader in a project that set up and organized a production line for two very important products Miller produces. This allowed me to work with many different people within the Miller organization. This also allowed me to be in contact with suppliers and understand that side of the business. Along with setting up that production line I am able to work on cost savings projects. These projects are awesome because it allows me to use my business knowledge along with incorporating things that I have learned from school.

I am learning an enormous amount of knowledge at Miller. This internship has absolutely helped me with my future career goals. I would recommend Miller Electric to any college student looking for an exciting and rewarding internship.

Voith Internship

Adam Pritzl

I am currently a tax intern at Voith Paper in Appleton. Voith is a multinational company with its headquarters in Heidenheim, Germany. The company has been around for almost two centuries; it started as a family business and still is privately held by descendents of the original owners. Worldwide Voith employs just fewer than 40,000 employees, and has locations on four continents. Last year we had gross sales of around 5.1 billion euros, and net income of 77 million euros. There are four main sectors that make up Voith. They include a Hydro division, a Turbo division, an Industrial Services division, and of course a Paper division.

My duties are on a more regional scale. In the tax department here in Appleton we are in charge of all North American tax returns, ranging from Canada to Mexico. We are responsible for around 30 federal tax returns, and around 50 state and provincial tax returns annually depending on mergers.

So far at Voith I’ve had the opportunity to experience many different aspects of a multinational tax department. I assist in quarterly installment payments, filling of amended returns, and provision and extension return work. I also work with our fixed asset system, investment portfolios, and local accounting software. Another large part of my experience includes researching new tax law changes and how it will effect our situation.

While learning all types of accounting systems, software, and many tax rules and procedures; there is another entire side to this internship. I guess I would call it the common sense learning. What I mean is not only do I learn things on the computer, but I get to interact with professionals and go to meetings and seminars to get the full effect of the business world. I think some of the best experience I will walk away with is how to go about doing the work, and how to approach certain people, things that they never talk about in the text books.

My experience here at Voith is priceless and it is a great way to learn about the accounting world. Although at times it seems overwhelming and unattainable, my supervisors have never given me something that I am not able to do. They have been more than willing to sit down and teach me anything I ask about. Overall, it has been a great experience.