Caterpillar 2015 Annual Report Download - page 45

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 45 of the 2015 Caterpillar annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 72

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72

45
2015 YEAR IN REVIEW
PEOPLE
FROM DESIGN TO THE
FACTORY FLOOR, TEAMS EMPLOY
LEAN AND AGILE TO DELIVER
FOR CUSTOMERS
To help customers take their businesses to the next level, teams from the Advanced Components and Systems
Division (ACSD) are collaborating to improve quality and efficiency.
In the office, software engineers are coming together in Agile teams to bring innovative solutions to our customers
faster than the competition. Agile is Lean for software development. But more specifically, Agile software development
is a set of principles for software development in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration
between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. These cross-functional teams learn from customers what features
and solutions are needed and how they are valued. Then they leverage their diverse knowledge, experiences and
skill sets to develop and deliver creative solutions. This flexible process helps teams mitigate project risks and
deliver value more rapidly.
“We’ve really seen the benefits of changing our mindset,” says Alex Kott, ACSD 6 Sigma Master Black Belt.
“High-performing teams are stronger than any one individual. Face-to-face collaboration, frequent feedback and
knowledge sharing helps us develop better products.”
On the shop floor, production employees are embracing Lean principles like Built in Quality (BIQ) to find defects
before they reach customers. BIQ employs strategically placed “quality gates” to check for and find defects, stop
them from moving on and initiate a fix. When operators find defects at quality gates, the operators are part of the
problem solving process. Operators now have a more holistic view of their work: They know that their “customer”
is the next process downstream from them, and they are careful to send quality products down the line.
Leaders are encouraging employees to voice their concerns and
bring up ideas for improvement. Production leaders then have a
responsibility to address those ideas and report back to employees
on what has been done. This Lean culture is making a difference.
“There’s no doubt that Lean has contributed to our improvements
in quality, velocity and safety,” states Steve Ferguson, ACSD
global operations general manager. “In 2015 alone, quality in our
factories improved 27 percent; we achieved a committed shipping
performance of 99 percent; and we had a record-low recordable
injury frequency of 0.12.”
“It’s the mindset of improving collaboration by
knocking down walls. It’s amazing what can be
done when you get everyone in a room working
together, building off each other’s ideas.”
– Alex Kott, Caterpillar 6 Sigma master black belt
1959 Caterpillar established the LOUIS B. NEUMILLER
SAFETY AWARD to recognize an outstanding achievement in safety.
The Decatur, Illinois, plant received the first Louis B. Neumiller Safety Award.
Elected president of the company in 1941 and Chairman of the Board in
1954, Neumiller had great concern for employee welfare and safety over
the years, often stating “SAFETY IS ALWAYS OUR NO. 1 BUSINESS.”
Our company’s oldest executive office recognition is now known as the
Chairman’s Health & Safety Award.