is a
United States based
Corporation headquartered in
Peoria, Illinois . Caterpillar (commonly referred to simply as CAT) is, according to their corporate website, "the world's largest manufacturer of
Construction and
Mining Equipment ,
Diesel and
Natural Gas Engines , and industrial
Gas Turbine s."
Famous for their products featuring the
Caterpillar Track and the distinctive yellow paint scheme (which is a special pigment titled "Caterpillar Yellow", as featured on an episode of
American Chopper ), Caterpillar produces a wide range of
Heavy Equipment , mainly
Engineering Vehicle s, including the
Caterpillar D9 Bulldozer .
Caterpillar is one of thirty companies whose
Stock is tracked in the . It is a Fortune 100 company ranked #1 in its industry, with more than $30 billion in assets.
Caterpillar was formed in
1925 with the merger of ''Holt Manufacturing Company'' of
Stockton, California and the ''C. L. Best Gas Traction Company'' of
San Leandro, California , 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 .
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 .
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
{Link without Title} in the ''Nashville Business Journal'', 60% of Caterpillar's employees work outside the United States.
Israel Defense Forces Bulldozers are Caterpillar tractors (
Bulldozer ,
Excavator and
Wheel Loader ) which were armored by Israeli industries and use for
Combat Engineering applications. The most notable dozer is the
Caterpillar D9 , which used for
Counter-terrorism operation in the
West Bank and the
Gaza Strip , operation which often included the demolitions of buildings and clearance of shrubbery.
A coalition of groups
led 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 . Some Human Rights groups, such as
Amnesty International also have criticized the Israeli usage of bulldozers. [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150332004?open&of=ENG-ISR
JVP and a group of Presbyterian Churches raised a motion in Caterpillar's Annual Shareholders Conference to review and also cancel the sales of equipment to Israel. The motion was rejected 97%-3%. Caterpillar maintains it has no right or means to monitor how its equipment is being used.
In February 2006, the Synod of the Church of England voted overwhelmingly to disinvest its USD$ 2.2 million in stocks that were held in Caterpillar Inc. as an ethical statement against the destruction of 4,000 Palestinian homes, the deliberate uprooting of 1,000,000 olive trees and the construction of the wall between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.
Caterpillar almost went under in the early 1980s 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 1990s, in which the company hired what it termed "permanent replacements" for striking union workers.
In both strikes,
Jack Rock s 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 1990s strike ended and the economy started to pick up again, Caterpillar adopted the "
6 Sigma " quality management program, so as to reduce costs and inventory, and identify and correct defects in the company's processes and products.
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.
Caterpillar has for many years been a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (
WBCSD ), based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2005, Cat expressed a strong commitment to sustainability, and is actively involved in many projects devoted to equitable, environmentally responsible business.
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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:
- Footwear (Work boots and shoes)
- ---Alaska
- ---Colorado
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 referred to as spark ignited engines.) Cat is also involved in manufacturing large marine-grade diesel engines and solar turbines.
