Caterpillar Forms Organization to Improve Customer Deliveries

Caterpillar Inc. this week announced a new order-to-delivery organization built on the foundation of 6 Sigma and the Caterpillar Production System.

"In recent years, 6 Sigma and CPS have helped us achieve outstanding results in safety, quality and profitability across the company,” said Caterpillar chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman.“But in order to get to the next level of performance, we are bringing together the critical processes and support groups to further improve our manufacturing and supply chain capabilities worldwide. From the moment a customer signs a dealer purchase order, until the product arrives at their door, customers will experience a more responsive Caterpillar, driven by this new organization.”

Caterpillar’s board of directors appointed Dave Bozeman, current Caterpillar vice president with the responsibility for the Integrated Manufacturing Operations Division, to lead the new organization. In his new role, Bozeman will be senior vice president with responsibility for the Caterpillar Enterprise System Group. He will be a member of Caterpillar’s executive office and will report directly to Oberhelman.

“For the last few years, Dave has been successfully leading one of the largest and most globally complex manufacturing divisions within Caterpillar,” Oberhelman said. “Prior to joining Caterpillar, he held executive leadership positions in manufacturing and quality with Harley Davidson. These combined experiences position Dave to be the ideal leader for this new group. Having Dave as part of our executive office will allow all of us to work directly with him and his new team as we aggressively move to implement these improvements for our customers.”

Since late 2012, Caterpillar group president Gerard Vittecoq has been leading a strategic initiative to establish an enterprise vision to deliver world-class lean results, based upon process capability. "The Caterpillar Enterprise System Groupbuilds upon the strong foundation of our Caterpillar Production System and 6 Sigma. It starts with customer expectations and driving competitive advantage. We are aligning all critical elements of our customer order-to-delivery process with a holistic view that will deliver world-class results,” said Vittecoq.

As previously announced, Vittecoq will retire from Caterpillar on May 31, after more than 37 years with the company.

Under Bozeman’s leadership, the new Caterpillar Enterprise System Group will combine existing divisions and organizations from several functional areas within Caterpillar including Global Purchasing, Manufacturing Logistics & Transportation, Caterpillar Production System, Lean Office and Process Transformation.

Caterpillar’s board of directors appointed Denise Johnson to replace Bozeman as vice president with responsibility for the Integrated Manufacturing Operations Division. Johnson is currently vice president with responsibility for the Diversified Products Division.

Previously, she was general manager of Caterpillar’s Specialty Products Business Unit, where she had responsibility for 17 facilities across the Americas, Europe and Asia. She joined Caterpillar in 2011 following a career with General Motors, where she developed deep expertise in manufacturing operations and product management in a series of positions in the U.S., Canada and Brazil.

With the decision to integrate theManufacturing Logistics & Transportationgroup of Cat Logistics into the new Caterpillar Enterprise System Group, Caterpillar has decided to combine its parts distribution business and its Diversified Products Division into a new division, which will be led by Steve Larson, current vice president with responsibility for the Parts Distribution & Logistics Division. The new division will be called the Parts Distribution & Diversified Products Division and will include Parts Distribution, Global Paving, Forest Products, Caterpillar Industrial & Waste Group, OEM Solutions Group, Defense & Federal Products, Global Work Tools & Services and Caterpillar Tunneling Canada.

“Steve has provided outstanding leadership for our Parts Distribution & Logistics Division, including overseeing the sale of Caterpillar’s third-party logistics business and the multi-year expansion and enhancement of the Cat parts distribution network,” said Stu Levenick, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Customer & Dealer Support.

Larson joined Caterpillar in 1979 and held a series of positions with growing responsibilities in the areas of accounting, finance and marketing. In 1995, he was named a product/marketing manager in the North American Commercial Division, and later held positions as a district manager, product manager for large track-type tractors and regional manager.

Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.