Caterpillar Inc.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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| Type | Public (NYSE: CAT) |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Location | Peoria, Illinois, USA |
| Key people | James Owens, CEO & Chairman |
| Industry | Heavy equipment |
| Products | Construction & Agriculture Machinery |
| Revenue |  $30.25 billion USD (2004) |
| Employees | 76,920 |
| Website | www.cat.com |
Caterpillar Inc. NYSE: CAT is a United States based corporation headquartered in Peoria, Illinois. Caterpillar is, according to their corporate website, "the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines."
Famous for their products featuring the caterpillar track, Caterpillar produces a wide range of heavy equipment, mainly engineering vehicles, including the Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.
Caterpillar is one of the companies whose stock is tracked in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is a Fortune 100 company ranked #1 in its industry, with more than $30 billion in assets.
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History
Caterpillar was formed in 1925 with the merger of The Holt Manufacturing Company with the C. L. Best Tractor Co., forming the Caterpillar Tractor Co. The Holt Manufacturing Company had earlier pioneered the use of the caterpillar track during World War I.
The story of Caterpillar Inc. dates back to the late 19th century, when Daniel Best and Benjamin Holt were experimenting with ways to fulfill the promise that steam tractors held for farming. C. L. Best and the Holt family, prior to uniting in 1925, had pioneered track-type tractors and gasoline-powered engines. After the companies were merged, the company went through many changes and at the end of World War II began growing at a rapid pace, launching its first venture outside the country in 1950, which marked the beginning of Caterpillar's development into a multinational corporation.
Caterpillar products range from track-type tractors to hydraulic excavators, backhoe loaders, motor graders, off-highway trucks, wheel loaders, agricultural tractors, diesel and natural gas engines and gas turbines. They are used in construction, road-building, mining, forestry, energy, transportation and material-handling industries.
Caterpillar products have made an impact on world history. Their crawler tractors inspired the first military tanks, which helped end World War I. Many of their machines helped build the Hoover Dam, tunnel under the English Channel, tumble the Berlin Wall and construct cities and neighborhoods across the United States.
Caterpillar was one of the "excellent" companies featured in the 1982 best-selling management book In Search of Excellence by business management guru Tom Peters.
Sales
More than half of Caterpillar's sales are to overseas customers. Caterpillar products are sold in nearly 200 countries. The company has a worldwide network of 220 dealers: 63 dealers in the United States and 157 in other countries. Caterpillar products and components are manufactured in 42 plants in the United States and 58 plants in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, the People's Republic of China, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Sweden.
Employment
At the end of the second quarter, 2005, worldwide employment was 82,248, compared with 72,916 one year ago. The increase was primarily due to about 5,000 hourly labor additions to support higher volume, the conversion of about 2,000 supplemental employees to full-time employment, and approximately 900 employees from acquisitions. According to a 2001 article [1] in the Nashville Business Journal, 60% of Caterpillar's employees work outside the United States.
Controversies
Israeli use
Public protests have called on Caterpillar to cease sales of its products to Israel because of their use for punative home demolition[2] and land clearance in the occupied territories of Palestine.
A coalition of groups[3], lead by the Jewish Voice for Peace, has called for protests against the sales of Caterpillar bulldozers to Israel, citing the use of the equipment to demolish the homes of Palestinian residents, destruction of olive groves, the death of an American protestor while trying to obstruct such activities and alleging that Caterpillar profits from the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.
Labor problems
Caterpillar almost went under in the early 1980's due to massive labor union strikes and a downturn in product demand. Several news reports of the time indicated that products were piling up so high in facilities that temporary workers hired to work the lines could barely make their way to their stations.
Caterpillar suffered another long strike in the 1990's, in which the company hired what it termed "permanent replacements" for striking union workers.
In both strikes, jack rocks were placed in the home driveways of many Caterpillar executives and employees, puncturing tires of vehicles and further worsening relations between company heads and laborers.
Not long after the 1990's strike ended and the economy started to pick up again, Caterpillar became a "6 Sigma" company. This is a management school of thought that emphasizes cost reduction, inventory reduction, and research into true costs and ways of doing things.
Environment
Caterpillar has been under fire by many environmental groups. Products produced by the company include tree logging trucks, strip and under-ground mining equipment, and of course, diesel engines. In 2005, Caterpillar donated millions of dollars to environmental groups in South America and Asia to protect and preserve forests and river systems. In 2004, the company came out with ACERT diesel engines that exceed federal guidelines for emission standards.
See also
Notable products
Caterpillar has a list of some 400 products for purchase through its dealer network. Of those, these are some of the more well known and notable:
- Track-type tractors (bulldozers):
- Front-loaders:
- 950E
- 955E
- 966E
- 966G
- Software
Cat is the world's largest manufacturer of high-speed diesel engines, large scale diesel engines, as well as being the world’s largest manufacturer of gaseous fueled engines. (Natural gas, methane, propane, etc., also refered to as spark ignited engines.) Cat is also involved in manufacturing large marine-grade diesel engines and solar turbines.
External links
- Cat.com - official website
- Caterpillar product list - from the official website
- Caterpillar corporate news
- BootCAT.org - Caterpillar protest site
