Page 342 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

Teamwork is what made this whole process successful. Hero did everything better than we anticipated.
– Tim Thomas, South Pole Traverse operations manager; current project manager, Peterson Power
Perhaps the biggest compliment the Peterson team received came from Tim Thomas. “When you look at these machines, they look like they rolled off an assembly line and that’s the way they were always meant to look. People who see them for the first time are surprised when they hear they’re modi- fied; they just think they’re a new model Challeng- er because they look like a finished product.”
In the end, everybody was very excited to see the final result. Dozens of people came out to the air- field to see the first machine arrive. “When that first tractor rolled off the C-17 at McMurdo, there were so many people out taking pictures. It was a very big deal,” says Thomas, regarding the tight- knit polar community. “A lot of people didn’t think we’d make the deadline. It was a huge challenge. But the guys at Peterson really went the extra mile to make it successful for us.” Having spent time
on both sides of the project, Bolton has a unique perspective: “I’ve worked for a lot of different pro- grams and places in the world. Peterson definitely stands alone. It’s the amount of effort they’re will- ing to put out to go the extra mile for the custom- er. It doesn’t seem to matter what the cost or the time involved.They are always willing to make sure things are done right.”
BUILDING A TEAM
Teamwork was the lifeblood of the project—both at Peterson and with the customer. When Thomas took over as Traverse operations manager, the first thing he noticed was the dire need to streamline the procurement process. “Growing up in a con- struction family in Raleigh, North Carolina, I knew what it was like to work with a Cat dealer and this wasn’t it. There was no connection, no one to call. When I got here, there were large parts or- ders over $50,000 each that had never been filled. That was something I really struggled with. They didn’t understand the difference between a Cat part and ordering something from a Napa Auto Store. For me, that was a big problem.” Over the course of the project, Thomas brought several key people to Peterson so they were able to put faces to names and build relationships.
“Once we started working with Joe [Frati] and Duane Jr. and Randy [Grimes], it all jelled,” says Thomas. “It became a team effort. Going in, we had a basic outline of what we wanted done but then it became more of a collaboration.” Accord- ing to Frati, there were a lot of ideas going back and forth. He would do conceptual drawings on his computer for Thomas, who would then give his feedback. “In the end, teamwork is what made this whole process successful,” says Thomas. “Hero did everything better than we anticipated. It out- pulled and out-performed all our other tractors because of the modifications we made. For us, that was huge. It was a definite homerun.”
The Antarctic Challenger Team
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