What started as two entrepreneurs trying to improve farming by attaching tractors and trailers to steam engines is now one of the most recognizable construction and mining companies in the world—Caterpillar. Caterpillar has been at the forefront of innovation and technology since its founding in 1925.
In this episode of The Innovators, host George Davison talks to Denise Johnson, a Group President at Caterpillar, about engineering, summer internships, autonomous mining vehicles, and more.
For more information on autonomous mining vehicles, head to TomorrowsWorldToday.com.
What started as two entrepreneurs trying to improve farming by attaching tractors and trailers to steam engines is now one of the most recognizable construction and mining companies in the world—Caterpillar. Caterpillar has been at the forefront of innovation and technology since its founding in 1925.
In this episode of The Innovators, host George Davison talks to Denise Johnson, a Group President at Caterpillar, about engineering, summer internships, autonomous mining vehicles, and more.
For more information on autonomous mining vehicles, head to TomorrowsWorldToday.com.
It all starts with one idea. Have you ever wondered how today's top CEOs, business leaders and people who work for the most innovative companies in the world found success? Join host George Davison, as he explores the innovators that are shaping tomorrow's world today.
George Davison:Today we have a group president from the caterpillar corporation. Meet Denise Johnson.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Hello, George. It's great to be here.
George Davison:It's fun to have you here today. We have a lot of questions, uh, in store for our audience today. And, uh, maybe we can start with a little bit of the, the history of the caterpillar corporation. And, uh, can you tell us how it was founded?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. It really is an interesting story. Caterpillar has been around for a long time, in fact, almost a hundred years. So back think about back a hundred years ago. Uh, when there was a lot of work that needed to be done, it leveraged largely, uh, horses or cows pulling different pieces of equipment, um, to be able to either move, move materials or to, uh, to really allow farming, to be done. All of that was done very manually. So at that time, uh, there were two pioneers, two entrepreneurs that thought there has to be a way to make this more reliable, to make, you know, the whole process, uh, be able to be leveraged in a way that, that took a lot of time and energy and, and didn't involve, uh, live, live, uh, uh, livestock. And so they started experimenting with steam engines and attaching steam engines to tractors and trailers and pulling those, uh, those trailers with a steam engine. And so, uh, two entrepreneurs, uh, cl best and Benjamin Holt, uh, were, uh, in this space and they were working, uh, largely on the same kind of equipment. And the two of them decided, Hey, I think we could work together as a team and with our abilities together, we could do even more. And so they, uh, worked together and formed a, a company and they called it caterpillar. And there's an interesting story behind the name caterpillar.
George Davison:Please hear it.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Okay. Well, um, as they moved and, and started to develop the product, uh, they actually, uh, were demonstrating it to, uh, a set of, uh, photographers and, and showing them how effective this, uh, this tractor was and moving equipment and, and goods across the field. And one of the, uh, the photographers looked at it and said, you know, that tractor moves like a caterpillar and the name stuck. And so they became caterpillar.
George Davison:That is so interesting. So we have two entrepreneurs looking at a frontier that they were trying to improve, and, uh, that was the launch. They combined their energies. And now a new name is formed by outsiders using their observational skills and saying, wow, it looks like a movie, like a caterpillar. And wow, isn't that interesting because observational skills are so critically important in the field of innovation. Isn't it?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:They really are there what sparks, I think not only the ideas, but they also actually help people to be able to, uh, quantify the problem such that they know what they have to solve and what they need to change to make it better. And that makes all the difference.
George Davison:Well, that's interesting. Your background is an engineering, isn't it? It is. Hmm. Did you, uh, would you say that part of engineering is doing a lot of, uh, let's say analysis of problems that exist and then looking at them instead of as a problem, as an opportunity? Okay.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:I think the basis of engineering is curiosity. It's trying, it's really understanding how and why things happen. And it's a skill that can be learned. I know that I didn't, uh, as a young child, um, know that I wanted to be an engineer. I actually discovered that over time. Yes.
George Davison:And can you share a little of that discovery? How did you find that math and science engineering, that kind of thing existed in you? How did somebody inspire you?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, in fact, um, I was good in math and science and I had a number of teachers and, and even, uh, people that I knew that were friends that said, you know, maybe you should become an engineer. And, uh, at the time I had no idea in my mind what an engineer was. I had never seen an engineer at work. I never knew an engineer or what they did. And it was hard for me to picture it. You know, when you think about a teacher or a doctor or a nurse or a fireman, you, you know, what they do, um, engineering is a little more elusive. There is not as, it's not as direct, so to understand what they do. So after that suggestion, I set out and, and, uh, really job shadowed or went to work with an engineer, actually sat by them at their desk and tried to understand what do they do. And what I found is engineers do a lot more hands-on problem solving, uh, than I ever imagined. And the more that I watched, the more that I saw with that, the engineering field was about the more that I was intrigued by it and got involved
George Davison:Well, what a wonderful way to get started. And, uh, maybe that's a good segue and to, um, how you did get your career started. If you had an interest in math, uh, eventually you, you went off into some direction off to an additional school, and then you got a job somewhere. Can you walk us through so that our audience can, I don't know about you, but when I was younger, I was always curious about how I fit into the world and how was I going to make a contribution? And people were asking me, what are you going to do in the future? And, um, maybe you had some of those same experiences. We have some in our young audience, they're probably wondering what school am I going to, or what, what kind of job, or what will I do? And, uh, if you had some experiences like that, would you kindly share them with us?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. I, you know, I think as there's so many things that there's so many ways that you can move in and, and, and actually explore, uh, what you're interested in, in the world. The thing about choosing a career is it's, it's not always, uh, uh, direct, uh, con it's not always a direct correlation. So as you think about being, uh, an engineer, and as I thought about being an engineer, um, it took a lot of experimentation for me to find that that's really what I wanted to do, talking to people, um, understanding what the roles were and then getting in and trying it myself before I knew that's what I wanted to do. And I think that's the hardest part is you're young and going through school, uh, you know, there are, there are a lot of obvious careers to go into, but you need to talk to people. You need to really understand what's out there before you make decisions. And so I, I urge students going into college, don't make a career decision, too early, let yourself get into the, get into university, get into school, or get into even a community college or, uh, uh, get into a field, even a job and explore it that way more experientially. And then let that guide you to what, what actually, you will be in the long run. You don't have to pick it when you're, when you're still in high school or even middle school.
George Davison:So if you're exploring around and you might, you might just find something you like, right.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. In the path that you think you're going to go on is never the path that ends up being the one you take. There's a lot that happens in your life and you have to be flexible. Yes.
George Davison:Well, that's a wonderful way to talk about it. I, um, okay. So would you, um, walk us, you, weren't always the president of caterpillar corporation and it's wonderful. I think you're going to inspire a lot of people out there with your story, um, your, your work career. Can you walk us through a little bit of that? Tell us a little, like what life has been like, um, as you've marched forward on this journey?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. So I was a summer intern when I was attending college at, at general motors. So I worked at, for an automotive manufacturer, uh, in my career. And as I, uh, as I initially graduated from college was a test engineer. So I used to test, uh, the steering systems. So we even have exterior car. I used to have to go into the lab and then actually on the vehicle. And we would do the testing to make sure that those components, those parts were going to be robust and lasts for a long time. So that was the first job I had. And it was a really interesting job because you learn how things fail, how things break.
George Davison:Um, if I walk you back just for a moment to make sure, could you explain what an internship is for our audience? Because I think that maybe a little stress,
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:That's a great question. So an internship is a summer job generally. Um, so you, you work at a company and, and, and, and you, you know, you're given some assignments as a, uh, studying engineer to teach you some of the concepts around what your, what you would do in the long run. And at the time I was an intern, it was, uh, it was a summer job that really focused on helping the engineers get their work done. So, um, it was a great opportunity at that time. We were doing air conditioning systems. You think about cooling someone in a car. Um, I was helping an engineer that was trying to design, how do we make the temperature in the car be even lower so that when people get in, they can cool off very quickly. Interesting. So that was my internship.
George Davison:And how did you get that internship?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, most universities have the opportunity to interview with various companies that are looking for students that want to get some engineering experience. And so that is a great opportunity to go to a variety of companies over the years that you're going to, to college and explore the field that you're going to go into. So again, you know, that whole path that you take, um, and taking experiments, uh, and working that really wasn't as an opportunity to validate this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
George Davison:All right. All right. Super. So we're now, can you take us a little further past the Ford experience?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Yes. General motors or general motors. Yes. Yes. Um, so I, you know, went from engineering into manufacturing and then, um, you know, kind of was in a more general management role. And I think that's the other thing about the field of engineering that I loved is it can take you into many different career paths. And so, you know, after about 20 years of working at general motors, I actually moved over to work for caterpillar. And when I initially moved into caterpillar, it was on engineering and designing components again. So I was, went back to my roots of, of, of design and engineering, and then moved up from there. And have I had the opportunity to move into a variety of positions within caterpillar, or now I'm leading a resource industries, which is responsible for producing mining equipment and large construction equipment for, um, you know, mining and construction customers. So it's a really neat, uh, area. And we also do a lot in the area of technology. And one of the interesting technologies that we're working on right now is self-driving tractors and self-driving, uh, mining equipment. And so that's a really exciting field to be a part of.
George Davison:Well, that's exciting. And, uh, that let's talk some more about that. Shall we, uh, innovation, uh, at the caterpillar corporation and, uh, what the world looks like in the future? Um, if I was a student and, uh, and I, uh, had interest in this possible area, what would be some of the things that I would want to know about that are coming
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, you know, there's so much happening in the world today and what you see around you every day is what's happening in, in, in the fields, uh, like construction and mining. So, you know, the whole idea of digital, uh, digital thread that helps to, uh, that helps to make, uh, the operation of a piece of equipment goes smoother and easier. So things like if, if I'm an brand new, uh, technician and I'm getting into an operator, I'm getting into a piece of equipment there's capability now within our machines, so that you don't have to have six months of training to be able to dig a deep hole that, that the machine itself has some assists that help you to do that task very easily. And so someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with, uh, with that task can go in and with a very short, uh, introduction can, can actually do the task very easily. So it's a, it's a mechanism to, to really enable, um, faster, easier, uh, operation of equipment.
George Davison:That's wonderful. So simplification is important from a technological technology perspective, right? So if we can make it more simple, you, uh, you can attract all sorts of different people to work with in the future. Uh, less training is required. Uh, of course we always make investments in our people, but it's also important to keep them safe and keep them moving. Right?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. And safety and productivity are two of the biggest things that we try to try to really enable within our, our equipment. And it's an exciting place to be.
George Davison:So some of the people here were out at your headquarters and they were able to get on some of these trucks. Some of them are five stories, high that's taller than a lot of buildings in our city.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:It is, these trucks are amazing and they can carry, you know, up to 400 tons of materials. So, you know, a lot of dirt is being moved and, uh, they're, they're amazing pieces of equipment.
George Davison:And is there always a human being in them?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:That's the really interesting part. And I, you know, as I talked about the technology of, of helping an operator, that's, uh, one of the, you know, one of the easier ways that we have leveraged technology, but we actually have self-driving large mining trucks that, you know, we have over 101 mine site alone where they're driving autonomously and they're, and they're doing it in a way that allows them to work more efficiently than if they were, uh, they had band, uh, man people in them per se, because you're moving them as a system, almost like a factory. And that makes it really compelling to be able to, to operate much more efficiently and think about the safety impact. There's no one that's going to be injured when you don't have someone in truck.
George Davison:I see. So you have a lot of these trucks running around, no human beings to be hurt, uh, that can't be seen from five stories up. Is that a fair way to say it?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:That's a fair way to say it and everywhere around the world, what's really great is this is a global, a global deployment. So we have, you know, we have them in every, uh, almost every continent of the world.
George Davison:Isn't it interesting. We've gone from pooling devices, the plow fields with, uh, with a steam engine back in the old days to, you know, new machines with all sorts of you have battery technology moving into your equipment, you have AI, you have roboticist, everything is moving in this direction and it's over. How many years is this? Is this isn't that long of a period of time?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Not in the big scheme of things. I mean, if you think about autonomy, we, we started investing in that in the 1985 timeframe. So, you know, you think about it, that's 35, 40 years ago that we started to invest in the technology. And now 40 years later, it's really here and it's happening. Um, but we've had a lot of, a lot of experimentation, you know, technology is something that, uh, you have to continue to invest in and you learn and the ability of, of integrating it and pulling it all together, uh, changes. And so I think, you know, it's, it's an evolving, um, eh, it's an evolving thing, but it, it, it takes time for it to, to really, uh, manifest itself into, uh, you know, something that's actually commercial.
George Davison:Yes, I see that. Um, and for our students out there, would you say that the, a part of making that future innovative world happen, uh, we need a lot of stem, uh, young people who are in the world of stem. Would you say that's important for, for their careers?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Absolutely. At caterpillar, we have over 10,000 engineers. Um, so, and we have, uh, almost a thousand PhDs. So when you think about, uh, and they're all from all sorts of disciplines, so it's not all in software robotics, there's, you know, we need, we need, uh, people who, who really are interested in wanting to, um, to help us. And it can be everything from technicians who are actually working on our equipment all the way to, you know, software engineers. So we, we need a wide, a range of backgrounds and not everyone has to be an engineer to be involved with the product development cycle.
George Davison:Okay. Well, um, there, I guess we're getting back to that, explore the world and finding you and find what you like. And there are all sorts of different jobs out there at these organizations. Absolutely. Um, so do you believe anybody can be successful in this world today?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:I absolutely believe that anyone can be successful. And I think part of it is what defines success, right. I think for me, um, it isn't about position. It isn't about income. It's not about, uh, it's not about status or power. It's about making a difference and success in, in that way, um, can have a very broad definition, but it is about, uh, making the world a better place wherever you are and whatever.
George Davison:And you know what, there's a long history of that at caterpillar. Isn't, you know, looking at the whole company started at trying to make farming better and improve human existence on this planet. And here we are today, still trying to make the work less work, um, and to make life better for everybody. So it's, it's nice to nice to think that way and to work that way.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:It is. And, you know, our, our, our company is an infrastructure company, which means we help build the foundation for what makes communities grow. So whether it's the ability to be able to gain access to water, or whether it's building bridges and roads, or whether it's helping with, uh, energy and power, you know, all of that is needed to help the world be able to foundationally grow. And so it's so exciting to be a part of a company that, that has that as its mission.
George Davison:Well, um, let's, if we could, let's, let's keep moving along and, and, uh, let's take a look at, um, how difficult it is today to be able to find the skills needed for the workforce that you're looking for for the future. Are you, are you finding that you're getting a lot of candidates with the skills that you're looking for?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, you know, there's always an opportunity, uh, to, to get more, I would say, you know, certainly, um, we target, uh, we target a broad range of backgrounds and we're really looking for diversity of, uh, candidate. So whether it's, uh, a background and in math and science, or whether it's someone who's really good at communications, or whether it's someone that really is excited about, um, uh, you know, um, marketing or finance, or, you know, even human relations. And we're looking for the best and the brightest in each one of the categories. And I think that's, what's great about a big company like caterpillar it's, you don't have to only be, uh, interested in one thing. You can have a lot of different kinds of backgrounds and we need, we need good people. We need people who really are passionate, who, who want to improve, and they really want to be a part of a company, um, like caterpillar, that's an innovator, the future, and, you know, we're a global business. So we have people all around the world and that's exciting too
George Davison:Well. That's interesting. I, cause I think we could maybe put it in two different baskets. We have a world of hard skills and a world of soft skills. And you just touched on both. So we have, let's say hands-on manufacturing and engineering and that that's one basket and the other, it's the soft social skills, the, um, you know, being able to work with your teammates and showing up the work on time and wanting to make a contribution. Would you say if we could look at those two baskets, is that fair to say, that's, that's the way you're looking at it?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:And we're looking for people who have the ability to be able to do a little bit of both as well. Right? So if you're an engineer, that's great, you have a very strong technical skill, but if you can't work in a team, because a lot of the work that we do is in a team function, you need both soft skills and hard skills. So I do think, um, you know, you bring up a good point and I, I think what's really great about the ability to be able to join a company like caterpillar is you can move from a position like an engineer and in working in an office environment. And if you're really interested in manufacturing, you can move that skill and become a manufacturing engineer and move into a factory environment. So there's a lot of different positions that you can move into. So if you decide, I want to try something new, the company, you know, supports that. And it's a really, that really, I think, enables people to, uh, you know, change as they grow and, and really change their, their interests as well.
George Davison:That's wonderful. You're living proof of it. You've moved through that organization right on up the ladder avenue.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Yes, I have. I've been very lucky to be able to do that and worked very hard as well.
George Davison:Yes. And I think that's a big piece of it. If you have the soft skills and the hard skills, and you're willing to put the effort in the future is yours, right?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Yeah. There's no, there's no, uh, there's no, there's no better way. I think, to succeed than to apply yourself and to work hard, but in, to never give up. And it's easy when, when things happen that maybe don't go your way and you don't get the, the position that you wanted or, or you have a project that, that doesn't do well, but you have to learn from those failures, everyone fails. And if you can learn from those failures and you can grow from those failures, you are going to be a much, much brighter, better person for it. And, and if you don't give up, you, you will succeed in the long run. That's so true.
George Davison:Yeah. Thomas Edison, he went after what he had a thousand failed experiments before he figured out how to give us a light bulb. And, uh, so we, we refer to that here to invention. Land is learn how to fail your way forward.
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:That's right. And not take it personally. I think so many people, uh, think that, that it's a reflection on them. You have to, you have to take your personality out. It's not about you. If something you've done necessarily doesn't go, right. It doesn't mean that you're, uh, that you failed. It's it means that what that project was wasn't successful, you have to figure out why, what happened? What could you do differently and then try again. And if you don't give up, you'll succeed. Eventually
George Davison:I agree with that wholeheartedly. And I think that's a great life too. It makes it interesting. All right. So let's say we could get into the minds of our education leaders today. If we could get a message or just whisper a little message into their ear as to, uh, you know, what they could do to help our students prepare themselves for the world of, uh, that, you know, for the world of business, uh, and or government work. However you want to say that, but, um, do you have any ideas you'd be willing to share, to say boy, that we'd love to see this in our students in the future?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, I do think it it's the ability to problem solve, but do it in a way that allows them to leverage others to problem solve. I think no one person on their own, um, has all the answers. And so if teachers can continue to, uh, focus on X experiential projects where a multitude of cross-functional individuals are working together to solve a problem, um, and then teaching those, those students how to work together as a team to be able to bring forward, uh, their ideas, uh, to me becomes really important because as I watch and look at the teams that I've led over the years, the ones that have been the most successful are ones that have worked across. And, and while there are brilliant individuals, um, it always is better as a team and when they bring things forward and, uh, there are things that people don't think of that others do. So I think that would be my main takeaway, a lot more experiential projects, less bookwork from the perspective of pure bookwork is important. Don't get me wrong, but I do think the more we can focus on getting teams to work together the better off,
George Davison:Right. We agree with that. That's one of the, one of the big things behind invention land and the education side of what we do. It's wonderful. I hear you saying that it does, uh, reinforce some of the things that we're bringing to the world and that in that school environment, um, do you have any closing thoughts or comments you'd like to share with the audience today?
Denise Johnson, Caterpillar:Well, you know, as I think back in, certainly I've, I've been working for over 30 years. Um, I th I think one of the things that I resonate that resonates with me is, um, sometimes you have to step back in order to move forward. It's that whole idea of growing as you learn, uh, and making mistakes or, or, or sometimes even changing course is not a bad thing. Um, the, the most important thing you can do is to learn from anything that you, that, that you're doing and, and let that carry you forward. So that would be my name, my main message today. And I guess the final thing is never give up.
George Davison:Those are great messages, and I can't thank you enough for sharing that with our audience today. Um, well, um, thank you. Thank you. And, uh, to our audience, thank you for tuning in.
Conclusion:For more information about the innovations and ideas changing tomorrow's world tune into tomorrow's world today. Now streaming on science and discovery or visit tomorrowsworldtoday.com.
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