Page 150 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

CORE VALUE: TEAMWORK
while checking out the Chinese equipment market and the challenges Peterson faces from the Pacific Rim. At the time,Thienemen was president of Cat-China.“We met Kevin literally a month before he was scheduled to transfer to Georgia as the new president of Cat Forestry,” says Duane Jr. “We had dinner with him and talked about our concerns with the forestry market, among other things. It was a great way to start our relationship.” When Duane Jr. presented his cost-savings proposal to Cat in early 2013, it was Thienemen who helped make it happen. “Kevin is all about performance. His attitude is ‘If this is the best way to do it and we can meet our goals, then I’m all for it.’ ”
Although Duane Jr. spearheaded the project, there was a whole team working out the numbers and logis- tics: Shawn Cornwall-Brady, Chris Harbeson, Mike Coiner (forestry specialist), and both Duane Sr. and Jr. “We all went back to the facto- ry in Georgia to present our plan to Cat,” explains Cornwall-Brady. “We started talking about FTO
Top to bottom: Sticks & Booms; Duane Jr with Chris Harbeson at logging site in Alabama; Cat 568 minus stick & boom.
(Finish-To-Order), which means
shipping the machines to Peterson—
without the front ends—for final as-
sembly. They liked the idea because it
would save everyone money. And not
just on freight—it would also increase
the capacity at their factory by 15 percent.” Cat would then be able to invest those three or four days of as- sembly time back into making more machines. And the machines would be closer to their destination point in the Pacific Northwest when completed. It was a winning solution all the way around.
148 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG