The Integration Group Earns Partner-Level Supplier Status in John Deere's 2024 Achieving Excellence Program
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Integration Group (TIG) has been recognized by Deere & Company as a Partner-level supplier for 2024 in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program. Partner-level status is Deere & Company's highest supplier rating, awarded to companies that demonstrate exceptional quality, service and a commitment to continuous improvement.
The award marks TIG's 11th consecutive year at the Partner level. TIG accepted the honor at John Deere's annual Achieving Excellence ceremony in April.
"This honor reflects the commitment of our employees and supplier partners and underscores our team's commitment to our supplier relationship with John Deere,' said Mike Schoenfeld, TIG's chief executive officer. 'Our team is proud to be recognized for the 11th straight year.'
For more than 30 years, TIG has supported multiple John Deere divisions with aftermarket-parts programs, kitting, assembly, supply-chain management, and fulfillment services across the United States, Canada, and South America.
Suppliers who participate in the Achieving Excellence program are evaluated annually in several key performance categories, including quality, delivery, process alignment, value creation, and relationship. John Deere Supply Chain created the program in 1991 to provide a supplier evaluation and feedback process that promotes continuous improvement.
TIG's prior honors include the John Deere Supplier of the Year award in 2021 and Hall of Fame status in 2023 for attaining back-to-back Partner-level ratings for ten consecutive years.
About The Integration Group: Headquartered in Marshalltown, Iowa, The Integration Group (TIG) delivers contract-logistics services and aftermarket supply-chain solutions to customers in the automotive, agriculture, and industrial-equipment markets.
TIG's Core Services:
For more information, visit www.theintegrationgroup.com or follow TIG on LinkedIn.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
What's The Most Popular Lawn Mower Brand In The USA?
Automated tech has rapidly revolutionized how we do household chores in recent years, with lawn-mowing being no exception. We've moved far beyond the traditional push and riding mowers that carried us for decades. Now, features like AI and battery power make mowing a time-saving, eco-friendly, and often hands-free project. Adding to the excitement, young players are bringing inspired innovation to a centuries-old task. The landscape is aptly changing in an industry that helps us change our landscapes, but does that mean the old guards are making way for the new? Or, are time-honored brands adapting to shifting needs and expectations? By more than one measure, it seems those reliable names we've leaned on for decades remain leaders among lawn mower brands in the U.S. Deere & Co., the No. 1 lawn and garden manufacturer in America, is the nation's top choice for reliability among lawn mower brands, according to a 2025 Life Story Research survey. It's the sixth straight year the brand topped the list. Following John Deere are other familiar tried-and-true names, including Honda, Toro, and the value-priced Craftsman. Husqvarna, another well-established lawn care brand, also features prominently. The company made the survey's top four in 2024. With so many lawn mower styles available, each brand has found its niche. The average consumer, therefore, may find the most popular or go-to brand changes based on the style they want, whether it's a classic push mower or a more advanced zero-turn riding mower. Read more: Milwaukee Products You Shouldn't Pass On Even If You're Not In The Market For Tools Just as "nothing runs like a Deere," nothing sells like a Deere either, and for good reason. Alongside its long-standing reputation for quality, the brand has situated itself directly on the line between commercial and residential use. A professional pedigree bolsters its residential brand, elevating it in the eyes of homeowners. Emphasizing the point, John Deere exited the push mower market in 2012. Its focus turned to the riding mower market, arguably the dominant mower segment and the bridge between the homeowner and lawn care expert. John Deere is also one of the top three American manufacturers, with over 1,000 employees working out of its Horicon, Wisconsin location. Homeowners agree that John Deere, maker of some of the highest-reviewed riding lawn mowers under $3,000, is one of the most reliable lawn care brands. According to a 2025 GreenPals survey, 9.7% of voters identified the Z300 as their favorite mower. The Scag Liberty Z was the only alternative to match it, sharing the top spot among zero-turn options. Polaris Market Research, meanwhile, noted John Deere was the top brand driving lawn mower growth. The report cited the Deere brand's durability, performance, and overall customer satisfaction as key factors in its popularity. Though thriving on tradition, John Deere is nevertheless geared toward the future. With the rapid rise in popularity of battery-powered alternatives, the company released its first all-electric model in the residential zero-turn Z370R. Push mowers are still wildly popular due to low initial cost and practicality for smaller yards. In this category, a mix of age-old brands and up-and-comers are making their mark. Names like Green Machine, Ego, and Ryobi offer some of the best battery-powered lawn mowers. Still, gas remains the most popular power option, owning roughly 40% of the market. Companies such as Stanley Black & Decker, owner of Craftsman, Cub Cadet, and Troy-Bilt, enjoy the success of multiple brands that have made them leaders in a tight market. Meanwhile, Toro lawn mowers make the cut needing only their four-letter brand to lead in sales and popular opinion. Founded in 1914, Toro proudly proclaims itself as "America's #1 Walk Mower Brand." Its Bloomington, Minnesota facility is one of the five largest manufacturing operations in the nation. Sales in 2024 put it second behind Deere & Co. and well ahead of third-place Husqvarna, according to IBISWorld. Polaris Market Research lists the brand as the fourth most influential growth driver in the market. As they explain, Toro's recent investment in zero-turn and robotic products have set them up for future success as a brand centered on versatility and user-friendliness. Indeed, the company invested in a state-of-the-art camera-based navigation system for its robotic mowers in 2022. Staying true to tradition, though, Toro is a standard-setter in gas push mowers, particularly in its highly-rated Recycler models. TechGearLab ranked the Toro SmartStow Recycler as the best overall among tested mowers. For their part, real-world customers shared that sentiment as 9.7% voted for the Toro self-propelled mower as their favorite in the GreenPal survey, the most for any product. Enjoyed this article? Get expert home tips, DIY guides, and design inspiration by signing up to the House Digest newsletter! Read the original article on House Digest.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
FTC commissioner talks consolidation, right to repair with Iowa farmers
Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, right, speaks with Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman, center, and Josh Manske, left, at an event with IFU members in Ankeny June 7, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) ANKENY — Iowa Farmers Union members met Saturday with U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and explained how consolidation in the agriculture industry has crippled their farming operations and rural communities. Bedoya, who visited with Iowa farmers three years prior, said it was important to come back to the places where 'the scope of the problems that people are facing just hits you in the face.' 'The key question is: what is the undone work,' Bedoya said to the group gathered in a barn at Griffieon Farms outside of Ankeny. Bedoya is visiting with groups around the country while he is involved in a lawsuit against the Trump administration, which fired him from the FTC in March. During his time at FTC, Bedoya and his team sued over the business merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, sued pesticide companies for alleged anticompetitive practices and sued John Deere for the right to repair equipment. After listening to farmers share their stories, Bedoya said 'the scope of the problem' and the 'just how many issues' are facing Iowa farmers is what stood out to him. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sean Dengler, a former farmer in Tama County, said the 'monopolization' across the machinery and agricultural sector led him to give it up and end five generations of Dengler farming tradition. Last harvest season, an error code on his combine led to a several-days harvest delay waiting for a licensed technician to come out to the farm, diagnose and come back to repair the rig. 'Giving farmers the ability to fix the equipment they bought is their right,' Dengler said. Part of the problem, for repairs and for nearly every aspect related to farming, is that repair shops, dealers, grain elevators, meat lockers and other commodities are fewer and further between. Farmers gave countless examples Saturday of how this spread has hurt not just their ag operations, but their rural communities as well. Josh Manske, an IFU board member and farmer, said farmers no longer shop around for the best fertilizer price, instead they shop 'for transportation.' 'The price is the same no matter where you go,' Manske said, noting the problems with a lack of competition. LaVon Griffieon said she sees the same issue spread to grocery stores across the state. Living where she does just outside of Ankeny, Griffieon said she has access to multiple stores within a 5-10 minute drive, but friends of hers in rural counties must drive in excess of 20 minutes to the closest grocery store, and close to an hour to find a store with organic products. 'It seems like feast or famine,' Griffieon said. Griffieon said the consolidation in the grocery industry makes the margins for an independent grocer are 'even worse than farming.' Jerry Rosman, a farmer and truck driver, said he sees the same issue in the field, but also on the highway. 'The dynamics of what it is might be a little different, but it's just — as things get tighter at the top, at the bottom they just start disappearing,' Rosman said. 'Pull through a little town and you can just see the decline.' Mike Carberry, a board member for Iowa Farmers Union, said agriculture needs the FTC's work 'breaking up the monopolies' of the industry that, he said, have turned Iowa into an 'extractive state.' Bedoya, who listened intently to the farmers, said while he's committed to bringing this type of legal action forward, stopping a merger, as the FTC did with the Kroger and Albertsons case, takes a massive amount of time, people and money. 'The amount of time it takes to stop a merger that has not yet happened is massive,' Bedoya said. 'To undo a merger that has already happened is gargantuan — it is something that kind of happens once in a legal generation.' Bedoya said a similar issue of vertical integration in the pharmaceutical industry has been blocked by legislative efforts in several states. Lawmakers in Iowa passed a bill that would put restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers to prevent them from using specific pharmacies to fill prescriptions. The bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. Bedoya, speaking on similar legislation passed in Arkansas, said it 'opened up' an avenue for going after vertical integration, that could be an option to intervene in some of the consolidation issues in agriculture. 'This is going to require both parties, and it's going to require every level of government or every branch, not just, federal prosecutors, but state prosecutors, state legislators, and also federal legislators if they get their act together and pass some bills,' Bedoya said. Bedoya and the other Democratic commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, at the FTC were fired by President Donald Trump, but Bedoya alleges the firing was illegal and is fighting in court to stay at FTC. Bedoya said while he might be locked out of the FTC system and without access to his files, he's still doing the work of a commissioner and speaking with rideshare workers, pharmacists, farmers and more to learn about the issues they are facing. 'But no matter what, I will continue doing this work, whether it's at FTC or in a nonprofit,' Bedoya said. In his view, the FTC has started to take up cases that trend more towards political battles, than protecting American consumers. 'The FTC is not for fighting your political fights,' Bedoya said. 'It's for suing the John Deeres of the world. It's for suing the Cortevas and Syngentas of the world that are screwing over farmers and that are making people's lives harder. It's not for political warfare.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Associated Press
John Deere Recognized as Top Community-Minded Company in the U.S. for Fourth Straight Year
Record-breaking community contributions earn national acclaim in The Civic 50 MOLINE, Ill., June 4, 2025 /CNW/ -- John Deere employees have once again set new records in volunteerism over the past year, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to community giving. Their dedication has earned national recognition for the fourth straight year, as John Deere has been named to The Civic 50 — an honor from Points of Light recognizing the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. Points of Light is the world's largest nonprofit dedicated to accelerating people-powered change. The Civic 50 has become a national standard for corporate citizenship and showcases how companies are leading through social impact and civic engagement. 'We're honored to receive this recognition from Points of Light,' said Taryn Edgin, director, Community Relations and president, John Deere Foundation. 'It reflects our commitment to trust-based philanthropy and unrestricted giving while highlighting the incredible efforts of our employees, who work tirelessly to improve our customers' lives while building stronger communities.' Community giving milestones: 'In an ever-evolving landscape, companies are looking to ensure that they can meet the needs of their communities, customers, and stakeholders,' said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, Points of Light. 'Companies like John Deere are leading the way in showing how social impact benefits their employee's well-being, strengthens the communities where they do business, and brings value and meaning to their work. Their efforts provide a model for others looking to bring the benefits of volunteering and social impact to their workforce and they're extremely deserving of this recognition.' To learn more about Points of Lights and The Civic 50 honorees for 2025, here is a link to their news release. About Deere & Company It doesn't matter if you've never driven a tractor, mowed a lawn, or operated a dozer. With John Deere's role in helping produce food, fiber, fuel, and infrastructure, we work for every single person on the planet. It all started nearly 200 years ago with a steel plow. Today, John Deere drives innovation in agriculture, construction, forestry, turf, power systems, and more. For more information on Deere & Company, visit us at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE John Deere Company
