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A getting-started guide for your plant

Bringing frontline flexibility to your site is a short, structured project — not a multi-year IT program. This guide walks you through how to choose where to begin, what a rollout looks like, what it takes, and who to call.

1 · Choose

Find the right starting point for your plant.

2 · Roll out

See what a typical rollout looks like.

3 · Prepare

Timeline, resources & bandwidth.

4 · Connect

Who to contact for next steps.
Step 1 · Choose

Find your biggest area of opportunity

Start where the pain is sharpest. Most plants begin with one of two modules — based on whether the pressing problem is keeping the people you have or covering the shifts you can't fill.

Module A · Retain & engage

Start with the Skills Matrix

Choose this if your plant…

  • Struggles with turnover, morale, or engagement
  • Runs skills tracking on Excel, paper, or whiteboards
  • Has supervisors with little visibility into who can do what
  • Manages time off, vacation canvassing, or OT manually

What you get first

A live, digital skills matrix — then digitize everyday workflows (time off, call-offs, vacation canvassing, workstation scheduling) on top of it.

Module B · Attract & cover

Start with Flex Workers

Choose this if your plant…

  • Has chronic coverage gaps and last-minute call-offs
  • Leans heavily on overtime or temp agencies
  • Sees production demand swing week to week
  • Struggles to hire enough traditional full-time workers

What you get first

A part-time, opt-in flex worker pool that picks up open shifts on demand — qualified coverage without overstaffing.

Not sure? Many plants begin with the Skills Matrix to build the data foundation, then layer a Flex Work Program on top once supervisors trust the skills data. You don't have to choose both at once — and you can run them together later. Compare the two paths →
Step 2 · Roll Out

What a typical rollout looks like

The same four-phase path works whether you start from the Skills Matrix or Flex Workers. Most plants are live in 4–6 weeks — mobile-first, with no complex IT integration.

Week 0
Kickoff & scope
Pick the opportunity, name a plant POC, gather current skills data
Weeks 1–2
Configure
Set up roles, skills, rules & policies; early access for HR and supervisors
Weeks 3–4
Train & prepare
Train supervisors and workers; prepare comms and the mobile rollout
Weeks 4–6
Go live
Launch, onboard workers to the app, monitor and adjust

If you start with the Skills Matrix

  • Load skills & certifications (even a spreadsheet is enough to begin)
  • Confirm competency levels and who validates them
  • Go live with the matrix, then add one workflow — often vacation canvassing or call-offs
  • Expand to more workflows as adoption grows

If you start with Flex Workers

  • Define the program — roles, pay, and the skills each open shift needs
  • Recruit and onboard the part-time, opt-in pool
  • Set site rules — seniority, fastest acceptance, CBA, work-center priority
  • Go live posting open shifts; scale the pool with demand
Step 3 · Prepare

Timeline, preparation & resources

A rollout is light on your plant's time. Here's what each phase asks of the team, and what to have ready before Week 0.

Phase Timing Who's involved Effort at the plant
Kickoff & scopeWeek 0Plant leadership, plant POCA few hours — align on goals & scope
ConfigureWeeks 1–2Plant POC, HR, a few supervisorsLight — provide data, rules & policies
Train & prepareWeeks 3–4Supervisors, HR, commsModerate — attend training, run comms
Go liveWeeks 4–6Supervisors, frontline workersLight — app onboarding & monitoring

Have these ready before Week 0

  • An executive sponsor in plant leadership
  • A named plant POC / project lead
  • Current skills & certification data — an Excel export is fine
  • Policies & guardrails — staffing minimums, leave types, CBA rules
  • A simple plan to communicate the change to workers

What you won't need

  • No complex IT integration or long build cycle
  • No new hardware — it's mobile-first, on workers' phones
  • No perfect data on day one — start with what you have and refine
  • No disruption to production during rollout

Bandwidth guide: most plant POCs spend only a few hours per week across the 4–6 week rollout.

Step 4 · Connect

Who to contact & next steps

Ready to explore a rollout at your plant? Reach out to the internal Caterpillar team that coordinates frontline flexibility.

Internal POC · To be added

[ Caterpillar Program Lead — Name ]

[ Title / Team ]

✉︎ [ internal email ]
☎ [ internal phone / Teams ]

Placeholder — add the internal Caterpillar point of contact and program details here.

Your next steps

1
Pick your starting point
Skills Matrix or Flex Workers — use Step 1 to decide.
2
Name a plant POC
One person to lead the rollout at your site.
3
Reach out to the program team
Book a kickoff to scope your rollout.

See where this is already working

Plants across the Caterpillar network are live today — with more launching soon.

Caterpillar in Action Review the Approach