Ohio CAT, one of North America's leading Caterpillar dealers, knew its Continuous Improvement efforts could be doing more. Despite a constant stream of projects, the business impact wasn't sticking, and hard-won gains would often fade.

To fuel sustainable growth, the company needed to bridge the gap between its strategy and its execution, connecting every division and initiative into a single, coherent system of performance.

Problem

On the surface, work was getting done, but the process created deep-seated challenges. Initiatives were scoped in short, reactive cycles, fostering a "check-the-box" culture. Executive meetings were spent reviewing lists of completed tasks, leaving leaders without the visibility to ask strategic questions about outcomes.

Misalignment across 15 business divisions left teams disconnected and priorities fragmented. Teams often worked in silos, unaware of what others were doing, which led to duplicated work and inefficiencies. Reporting added to the challenge, as leaders relied on slide decks that were time-consuming to prepare, inconsistent across teams, and outdated almost as soon as they were presented.

Solution

Ohio CAT turned to Cascade to break the cycle of short-term projects and create a connected system of performance. The breakthrough came with reporting. Instead of relying on slides that had to be rebuilt for every meeting, the team began using Cascade reports to give executives a clear, consistent, and always up-to-date view of initiatives across all divisions.

These reports reshaped leadership meetings. Executives came prepared with the data they needed, shifting the conversation from “What did we do?” to “Did this improve profitability or customer outcomes?” The focus moved away from activities and toward performance. Cascade also made it possible to adapt strategy continuously, so priorities could evolve without losing momentum.

Reporting also helped beyond Ohio CAT’s own leadership team. For example, as part of Caterpillar’s Services Growth initiative, the dealership needed to share regular updates with Caterpillar HQ. With Cascade, these updates could be exported and customized without recreating materials each time, saving hours of prep and ensuring consistency. Automated updates gave subject-matter experts a stronger voice, since they no longer had to scramble to prepare slides before every review.

Results

The shift was clear from their first KPI meeting with Cascade reports. Executives moved beyond task updates and began having the performance-driven discussions they’d been missing. Key outcomes include:

• Sharper Executive Focus: Leaders began asking strategic questions about profitability and customer impact, turning meetings into decision-making forums.
• Time Reclaimed Across the Business: Hours previously lost to building slides were reallocated to high-value work.
• Enterprise-Wide Alignment: Teams across all 15 divisions gained a shared view of priorities, strengthening cross-functional collaboration.
• Streamlined Corporate Reporting: Updates for key initiatives, like Caterpillar’s Services Growth program, became faster, more consistent, and reusable.

Impact

“The key thing about strategy is knowing that no-one gets it right the first time. Strategy should always be iterative which means we need to have good visibility into what is going right and what is not so we can adjust on the fly." - Marty Yuzwa, Director of Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement

With Cascade, Ohio CAT has turned Continuous Improvement into a driver of business performance. Leadership meetings are now decision-driven, divisions are connected, and reporting has become a tool for alignment instead of a burden. What was once reactive is now proactive and sustainable.