Caterpillar was facing delays in receiving manufacturing materials in 2021. Our team helps address the problem with a digital solution.
I led the design efforts on this project while coordinating very closely with the Product Managers and Engineers
Business Analysts, Developers, QA, Design
3 months
The initial MVP successfully integrated 600 suppliers, which was expanded tenfold to 6,000 suppliers in the production phase. This robust dashboard secured two additional projects, one with a premier automotive client and another within the supply chain sector.
Caterpillar was facing major delays in receiving manufacturing materials of the construction equipment from suppliers around the world in 2021. The network of the suppliers was very complex. Even if one supplier is affected, it would affect the ones it is connected to and ultimately Caterpillar! And Caterpillar had 1000s of suppliers for their manufacturing.
We conducted multiple interviews with the Procurement Officers from Caterpillar to understand their needs and the current issues. Along with the primary research, we also coordinated with the Deloitte Integrated Research team to understand the insights from quantitative Research, a CPO survey that was conducted on the issues related to Procurement.
We conducted multiple interviews with the Procurement Officers from Caterpillar to understand their needs and the current issues. Along with the primary research, we also coordinated with the Deloitte Integrated Research team to understand the insights from quantitative Research, a CPO survey that was conducted on the issues related to Procurement.
Caterpillar had thousands of multi tiered suppliers in their network, so it was difficult for the Risk Officers to track risks pertaining to these suppliers efficiently. And this was during 2021 when the Covid-19 pandemic was affecting multiple businesses in the network.
Designed a simple dashboard that helps the users be aware of the supplier related risks, and an ability to take action against the risks through case management system.
Exploring different solutions to the problem. Creating wireframes to propose ideas.
Constraints we had. Sprint system. Collaboration with Engineering and Product Management team.
Solutions explored.
Understanding the capabilities of the Engineering and AI was crucial for me during this project. Coming up with different features like Proposing Risk Alerts, Case Management Metrics, Geographical Map, and Network map- Was possible because of having constant conversation with the Engineering team and understanding what data points can we use in order to provide the best experience to the user.
At the same time, developer handoff involved understanding the needs of the developers - The grid system being used, the gaps, measurements, font weights and colors. Following a thorough design system highly helped in closing the gaps between the dev team and the design team.
Constant collaboration with the Procurement Officers from the client side and with the Business Analysts from Deloitte to get the requirements right.
Leading Design by coordinating with Engineering team on a daily basis to understand the scope of the proposed solutions.
Iterating on the designs on a weekly basis after feedback from the users ensured that the right problems are being addressed.