Internship Week 13

This week was my last week at Dixon Valve and Coupling this fall. I continued to work in the exports department. I was able to fill out some customs forms this week for shipments leaving by truck and by plane. I also went through some of the international orders, sorted out the different tariff codes, and declared the value of things traveling under each tariff code for customs. I also sorted paperwork for another shipment to Canada this week, which was much more time consuming than last week. I was also able to utilize a little bit of my knowledge of the French language when I listened to and tried to understand a voice mail message. I only spent two days at Dixon this week since all of my materials for the internship credits were due on the third day of the week I normally work. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Dixon, and I am excited to be back there and learning again in the end of January.

Internship Week 12

This week I started in the Exports area of the company. Dixon needs a whole department for exports since they have branches and distributors all over the world. Since items need to cross borders, it requires a lot of knowledge and paperwork. You need to know the different tariff codes for specific merchandise you are sending to companies whether it is going by land, by air, or by sea. Customs paperwork also needs to be filled out and sent to the appropriate parties before the merchandise can cross borders. Knowledge of exchange rates and how to convert them is also important since we are dealing with many different countries with different currencies. The neatest part of this week was being able to sit in on a video conference call with the three branches in Canada. General problems were discusses as well as possible resolutions. I have never been a part of a video conference call before and I found the technology absolutely amazing. While I did end up doing some filing this week, I was overall pleased with what I was able to experience and learn.

Internship Blog Week 11

I never thought I would enjoy working in the IT department as much as I did. I was really able to gain some experience and knowledge in the field. I’m glad that this internship allows me to explore different sectors of Dixon because I found something that I never thought I would find interesting. For most of the week I explored the new 2007 Microsoft Office. It is very different from the 2003 Microsoft Office. It may be hard for previous users of Office to adjust to the big changes in all of the programs, but for new users it seems to be quite user friendly. For old users, it will take a bit of practice to get accustomed to the new ways the program works and how files are saved, but overall the programs and all of their features are much easier to find and utilize. I also found this week that one member of the IT department I worked with, Grace, teaches computer classes to other Dixon employees so they become familiar with the programs they will use on a regular basis. This seems like a wonderful thing for the company to offer. My last day in the IT department, J.C., the head of the department took me on a tour of the company, mainly in the warehouse. I saw how IT is involved in every single aspect of the company, which showed me how important being computer savvy really is.

Internship Blog Week 10

I’ve really never been exposed to anything having to do with the inner workings of computers. This week that changed for me, as I began my two weeks in the IT department. The first day I came in the employees of the IT department took me in what they call the “meet locker” which is the very cold room where all of the servers and other computer related items are housed. They explained how each piece of equipment in there functioned. It has to stay very cold in there; otherwise the equipment will become damaged. My second and third day in the department I was able to “dress down” since I was going to be working in the factory with computers. In the factory I was replacing old green screen computers with new screens and a small box which connected to the servers upstairs. I also installed new wireless systems. I had to wear safety goggles in the factory due to all of the part creation going on. I’m excited to see what I get to do next week.

Internship Blog Week 9

This week I finished up in the Sales Department. I only worked two days because of being off on Halloween. I really enjoyed all of the interaction I was able to have with both customers and employees of Dixon. In accounting you do not take 90 phone calls a day like in sales. This week I was able to enter more orders, make phone calls to customers, and check delivery dates of parts to be completed/come into stock on an excel spreadsheet. When you work in the sales department you have to be knowledgeable of every part Dixon sells, how it works and what it does. It must be hard to memorize all of those different parts, but over time the information comes to you easily. The sales department kept me interested and active the whole time I was there, and I feel that I learned a lot and really saw how much Dixon cares about its customers.

Internship Week 8

This week I was to start in Information Technology. When I arrived I reported to my new post, where I was much unexpected. The head of the IT department was away on vacation, so I was switched to the sales department, where I was to be in November. In the sales department I listened to many phone calls dealing with orders and general questions, I was able to enter orders that came over the fax machine, and I created a pricing spreadsheet for the entire department. I also had a chance to spend time in the Advertising department where I saw many works in process. Instead of sending out user manuals for parts and products, Dixon is creating videos to better explain use. When I was in high school I interned with a publisher in Baltimore, Alter Publications, which I this week found is the publisher of Dixon’s publications. Its neat how you make different contacts and random connections through work and internships. Overall, I enjoyed this week, it was a nice change of pace, and I am looking forward to spending next week there again.

Internship Week 7

This week I finished up in the Payroll and General Ledger Department. On Tuesday I worked with Mel, and did the pre-bank reconciliation paperwork. Of course, they are never complicated to do, but on this specific day, none of the numbers were balancing, and we had to do a lot of work and figuring to really understand what was happening with the papers. Mel also showed me all of the working papers for Dixon and its smaller companies. Some of these papers were used for the auditors when they are around, but most of the papers were for internal use only. These were really interesting to see. Wednesday I ended up working with Gary, who does cost accounting. We went through and dealt with an expense account for one of Dixon’s world traveling salesmen who has a company credit card. We went though and verified all of the receipts to the charges on the card. Thursday I was with JoAnne again, doing the same things we have been doing and sending out checks. I really have enjoyed seeing and understanding what the different vendors they use do for a service and seeing how much money they spend and take in each week. Next week I will be in the Information Technology department, which will be a nice change of scenery.