Caterpillar 2013 Annual Report Download - page 31

CATERPILLAR INC. 2013 YEAR IN REVIEW
29
COMMON GROUND
Moving toward a
Connected Caterpillar
A Conversation with Dave Bozeman,
Senior Vice President
Why was the Caterpillar Enterprise System Group created?
The Caterpillar Enterprise System Group (CESG) was developed in 2013
to get our key order-to-delivery processes aligned under one overall
group. We think it’s important to take an end-to-end, more holistic view of
Caterpillar so we can identify and create business synergies. Overall,
CESG wants to improve the customer experience from the time they
engage Caterpillar for a product or service to the time that product
or service is delivered. We expect our group, together with the
businesses, will drive that greater experience.
In terms of Caterpillar’s 2020 strategy, why did it make sense to form
the group in 2013?
I think Caterpillar has been heading in this direction for a while. Over the
years we’ve used our 6 Sigma and Caterpillar Production System (CPS)
deployments to yield great benefi ts when it comes to delivery, safety
and profi tability. But if we’re moving to the next level as an organiza-
tion, we really have to look at an end-to-end, order-to-delivery process.
That’s where the CESG comes in – by aligning our processes together,
we’re able to improve performance to a level even higher than we
could achieve by just using 6 Sigma or CPS.
How will CESG’s work infl uence the execution of the 2020 strategy?
CESG will deliver a more connected Caterpillar, and a more connected
Caterpillar will ultimately produce better inventory turns. We’ll have
a better cash-to-cash cycle and should achieve greater effi ciencies
with Caterpillar’s new product introductions. But more importantly,
our group wants to look at the effectiveness and effi ciency of our
entire value chain – including our internal and external supply chain
and our dealers.
Overall, CESG’s work will be very important for all of Caterpillar, since
we will be optimizing the entire chain and not just individual links.
Over the years, Caterpillar has faced numerous business challenges.
How will CESG help the company respond to those challenges?
The CESG team will drive Caterpillar in a connected fashion, knowing
that we’ll continue to face challenges from time to time. When those
occur, however, we want CESG’s work to put Caterpillar in a better
position to deal with those challenges head-on – increasing our agility
and fl exibility to address those situations.
How will CESG be successful in executing its strategy?
Strong employee engagement is what we’ll need to successfully connect
Caterpillar – all of our people embracing CESG goals and helping connect
processes and systems into a single chain. I’ve often said that we strive
for boring factories and boring businesses, because “boring” operations
mean everything is running smoothly. But that will require engaged
employees who can drive profi tability. An engaged workforce will help
connect Caterpillar and help drive high profi tability and growth in those
“boring” factories, putting us in a strong position to succeed today
and tomorrow.
How do you want the work of CESG to help evolve Caterpillar’s culture?
CESG will evolve Caterpillar’s culture by taking a more holistic view of
the company, as opposed to a more segmented view. It will help
promote and drive a more connected organization – which is why
it’s vitally important to have the order-to-delivery processes and
support groups come together under one team. These are the things
that will help drive a culture of end-to-end value for Caterpillar.