Orange, Blue & Yellow?

This past week (June 4, 2007- June 8, 2007) was a truly great week, full of learning experiences. Becoming immersed in Caterpillar culture is an experience all in itself. Frequently, I am asked if I am “bleeding yellow” yet. With my deep devotion to the orange and blue (University of Illinois), which will never fade, it will be fun to add mix this “yellow blood.” After only three weeks though and loving my experience at Caterpillar, I think I am beginning to see a yellow vein.

So why do I love my experience with Cat so much? Diverse opportunities. Caterpillar aims to develop their employees to their fullest potential and beyond. Consistent training, information sessions and skilled professionals surround me, allowing me a learning opportunity each and every minute.

Last week, I started off Monday by reviewing the Trade Press website, which I am updating the images on. To comply with “common look and feel” standards established by Caterpillar, I am updating the images so they are standardized with the new trade dress. This trade dress, introduced by Caterpillar is a red power stripe (diagonal red line) that is visible on recently released equipment.

On Tuesday, I was privileged to meet with one of my team members, who is an advertising job director for clients. She is highly respected and works with many clients to aid and delegate the process of creating promotional campaign materials. During this job shadowing session I learned about her many job responsibilities, brand standards, internal vs. external advertising sources and agencies. Personally, having mixed views of advertisement agencies, talking with my teammate led to an opportunity to visit the agency Simantel (www.simantel.com). Visiting Simantel with another teammate of mine was awesome! The agency’s office is a beautifully re-done boxing arena abounds of creativity. Receiving a personal tour, I met several staff members and learned about their current projects and clients. Everyone from account managers, graphic designers, layout specialists, web designers, etc. took the time to explain their responsibilities and interactions with clients. I truly appreciated learning about Simantel and honestly did not want to leave their fun, creative atmosphere! Thanks to my great teammates, I was blessed with this exceptional opportunity!

Wednesday brought additional learning opportunities, which included learning more about the Trade Press website. Attending a meeting regarding updates to the site, I met two men from the eChannel group within Cat, who work on the Cat.com sites. Further complying with common look and feel, our websites must also be updated, to speak the proper voice of Cat. Working with a team of two experts on web development and two from Trade Press was a neat experience, as I learned how the websites are separate entities but under the umbrella of cat.com. I look forward to setting up job shadowing sessions with the eChannel representatives.

Attending my first client- agency meeting on Thursday, I received a true feel for the setup of marketing/ advertising campaigns when working with an ad agency. It was a pleasure to meet two representatives from Marcus Thomas advertising agency of Cleveland, Ohio. Marcus Thomas prides itself in the way they stimulate creativity, employees are allowed to bring mans best friend to the office. Yes, if you ever visit Marcus Thomas be prepared, you will be surrounded by dogs! How neat! Aside from the dog conversation, Thursday’s meeting focused on a marketing campaign for Caterpillar. At Caterpillar, we pride ourselves in being industry leaders by providing superior equipment and by buying the Caterpillar brand, customers reap quality results. Such quality products deserve only premier marketing campaigns such as the one discussed on Thursday.

Additionally, on Thursday, I was allowed a tour of Caterpillar buildings SS and HH, located across the road from building CV. Buildings SS and HH are where Caterpillar undercarriage systems are made. This was a truly humbling experience that I believe should be implemented much sooner into the Corporate Intern program. Interns such as me, are aware of the products we support, yet we lack an understanding of why we are really Caterpillar employees. Sporting a hardhat, safety glasses and ear plugs in a 100 degree building puts office work in a totally different perspective. Observing men and women haul enormous steel rods with Caterpillar equipment through the manufacturing buildings and then melt the rods down to steel is an amazing process. Watching steel links that support undercarriage for track type tractors was a great that allowed me an even greater appreciation for my role at Caterpillar.

Come Friday, it was my belief that the week could not get any better. However, Friday was a great end. On Friday, I began my 6 Sigma Green Belt training. Working one- on-one with a 6 Sigma Black Belt made this a very learning experience very beneficial and worthwhile. Green Belt training begins with the Define and Analyze sessions of the 6 Sigma process. I was grateful to complete three hours of training on Friday, leaving me two sessions for Monday.

Following training, I left for the Caterpillar Mapleton Foundry. All interns were provided the opportunity to schedule a tour of the Foundry throughout the week. This was an amazing experience, again reaffirming why Caterpillar is an industrial leader. Plus an experience such as this allows for greater appreciation of the Caterpillar culture. Mapleton Foundry, located in Mapleton, IL, is where engines are made. Seeing tons of sand and iron be mixed together to make an engine block is an interesting process. Walking through a 100 degree plus factory, allows one to appreciate their office job and all the workers that help make Caterpillar a leader.

Experiences such as factory tours, Green Belt trainings and more are keeping me busy, but I am never to busy for my friends and family. Please be sure to drop me a note, comment on my blog or give me a call. Have a great week!