() 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
Caterpillar Track s and a distinctive yellow paint scheme, Caterpillar produces a wide range of
Heavy Equipment , mainly
Engineering Vehicle s, including the
Caterpillar D9 Bulldozer .
Caterpillar is one of the thirty companies whose
Stock is tracked in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average . It is a Fortune 100 company ranked first in its industry, with more than $40 billion in assets.
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,
Israel .]]
The story of Caterpillar Inc. originates in the late nineteenth century, when
1904 he added wooden block-linked treads around the idlers on Holt No.77, his test tractor. The results were impressive, and the modern tractor was born. Caterpillar became famous for its Caterpillar 30 and its
Caterpillar 60 tractors.
Caterpillar formed on
April 15 ,
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.'' Sales the first year were $13 million. By 1929, sales climbed to $52.8 million, and CAT continued to grow throughout the Depression of the 1930s. The Holt Manufacturing Company had earlier pioneered the use of the
Caterpillar Track during
World War I .
After the companies merged, Caterpillar went through many changes, including the adoption of the
Diesel Engine . Caterpillar products found fame with the US Navy "
Seabees " who built airfields in the
Pacific War . Following World War II, the company grew at a rapid pace and launched its first venture outside the US in 1950, marking 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's 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
Tom Peters . The company's written principles are the "Worldwide Code of Conduct" document that stresses integrity in every action.
Caterpillar Worldwide Code of Conduct
Caterpillar has a governance structure where the Chairman of the board acts as CEO. The Board of Directors is fully independent and is made up of outside (non-employee) directors. Several "group presidents" report to the CEO, and multiple vice presidents report to each group president.
The board has four committees: Audit, Compensation, Governance, and Public Policy.
The behavior of all employees is governed by a Code of Worldwide Business Conduct, first published in 1974 and last amended in 2005, which sets a high standard for honesty and ethical behavior. All management employees are retested on this code annually.
As of the first quarter of 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 .
Caterpillar's historical manufacturing home is in Foundry, where diesel engine blocks and other large parts are cast; the
East Peoria factory, which has assembled Caterpillar tractors for over 70 years; the
Mossville engine plant, built after
World War II ; and the
Morton parts facility.
The Caterpillar Defence Products subsidiary, headquartered in
Shrewsbury ,
Shropshire , provides diesel engines, automatic transmissions and other parts for the UK's Titan and Trojan engineer tanks, Terrier combat engineer vehicles, and tank transporters; the Romanian MLI-84 armored personnel carrier and the Swiss
Piranha III light armored vehicle, which is currently being developed for American light armored formations; large fleets of military trucks in both the US and UK; and the CV90 family of infantry fighting vehicles used by the armies of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The Russian Caterpillar facility was completed in 16 months and occupied in November of
1999 . It had the first electrical substation built in the
Leningrad Oblast since the Communist government was dissolved on
December 26 ,
1991 . The facility was built under harsh winter conditions, where the temperature was below -25°C.
Caterpillar's worldwide employment was 96,315 at the end of the second quarter 2007, up 4,001, or 4 percent, from second quarter 2006. Of the increase, about 1,000 were the result of acquisitions, about 2,000 were salaried and management employees and 1,000 were hourly employees.
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Caterpillar almost went under in the early 1980s, at one point losing almost $1 million per day due to a sharp downturn in product demand as competition with declared an
Embargo against the
Soviet Union after they invaded
Afghanistan , causing the company to be unable to sell millions of dollars worth of pipelaying equipment it had already built. The impact of the embargo on the company was about $400 million.
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The results were
Layoffs and massive
Labor Union Strikes , primarily by the
United Auto Workers at plants in
Illinois and
Pennsylvania . Several news reports at 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 work stations. Caterpillar suffered another long labor disagreement in the
1990s , in which the company hired what it termed "permanent replacements" for
Locked Out union workers.
In both situations, into their factories.
Caterpillar also embarked on its "southern strategy", opening new small plants ("focus facilities") in
Right To Work states such as
North Carolina (
Clayton and
Sanford ),
South Carolina (
Greenville ),
Mississippi (
Corinth ),
Missouri (
Boonville ),
Tennessee (
Dyersburg ), and
Georgia (
Griffin and
LaGrange ). This has cost nearly 20,000 high-wage union jobs in the
Peoria, Illinois area, but Caterpillar has survived and grown stronger.
Not long after the 1990s situation was resolved 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 criticized by many environmental groups. Products produced by the company include forestry equipment, mining equipment, and diesel engines. While providing higher fuel efficiency than gasoline engines, diesel engines usually produce higher levels of
NOx and particulates.
In 2005, Cat expressed a strong commitment to sustainability in its annual report's "letter to shareholders" and announced publication of an annual sustainability report.
In 2005, Caterpillar donated $12 million dollars to
The Nature Conservancy in a joint effort to protect and preserve river systems in Brazil, USA, and China.
In recent years Caterpillar has expanded in the remanufacturing area. In
2006 they acquired
Progress Rail Services Corporation, a provider of
Remanufacture d locomotive and railcar products and services to the North American railroad industry. In
2007 , they acquired Eurenov S.A.S., a remanufacturer of engines, transmissions and components for leading European automotive manufacturers.
In 2006, the company issued its first annual sustainability report, touting its remanufacturing, recycling, and environmental projects around the world. This report can be found on their website.
armored Caterpillar
D9 L (right) and D9N (left) bulldozers]]
Caterpillar equipment, especially the
D9 Bulldozer , has been equipped with armor and military equipment by third parties, and used as a
Combat Engineering Vehicle . Caterpillar has been criticized by activists for selling its equipment to Israel, which has used it in the
Destruction Of Palestinian Homes .
Caterpillar digs in on Israeli bulldozer battle Chicago Sun-Times, June 15, 2006 by David Roeder
Caterpillar faces an intifada . Salon.com May 13, 2004
A shareholder motion to examine the issue has been brought repeatedly by
Socially Responsible Investors at Caterpillar's annual meetings. In recommending a vote against the motion, Caterpillar's board stated, "Caterpillar shares the world's concern over unrest in the Middle East and we certainly have compassion for all those affected by the political strife. However, more than two million Caterpillar machines and engines are at work in virtually every country of the world each day. We have neither the legal right nor the means to police individual use of that equipment. We believe any comments on political conflict in the region are best left to our governmental leaders who have the ability to impact action and advance the peace process." The motion received 4% of shareholder support.
University of Wisconsin System Trust Funds. Caterpillar and Human Rights in Israel December 2004
The family of
Rachel Corrie , an American who was killed while attempting to prevent demolitions in Gaza, has sued Caterpillar alleging it violated human rights and committed
War Crimes by knowingly selling its equipment to the Israeli army. Four Palestinians whose homes were bulldozed are also named plaintiffs.
Roxana Popescu, Seattle Times: Court of Appeals takes up Corrie lawsuit
vehicle in action]]
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:
Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of wheel loaders. The medium size (MWL) and large size (LWL) are designed at the . Large wheel loaders are manufactured at
Aurora, Illinois exclusively, on three assembly lines.
