nitbob3
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- Mar 1, 2007
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Don't read too much into the article listed at the very bottom of the page! In other words, don't get your hopes up! As an insider at Caterpillar in Mossville, the company will quit manufacturing the 2007 On-Highway Acert Technology Engines by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. Also, they will not be making the new On-Highway 2010 Engines as first projected at Mossville, because the are getting their focus away from the On-Highway Truck Engines. Which means great news for Paccar (Cat's BIGGEST supplier at one time). Paccar has darn near pulled everything out of Caterpiller due to failed built engines-mechanical issues-poor quality, lost time on the job, and very short on meeting demands for engines/contracts. I know 2nd Shift in Mossville for a fact is running on low manpower/people/persons (many doing 2-3 tickets/jobs at once), but the company has already stated it will not add any more people to that shift. In a recent employee meeting at Mossville on 2nd Shift, 2 weeks ago, the company informed the employees there might be job loss and plant closures (What they called job consolidation/restructuring). So don't go jumping for joy just yet Caterpillar fans/workers! As Forrest Gump would say, life is like a box of chocolates, but the kicker is you just never know what you are going to get from Caterpillar day-to-day that is!
Meanwhile, Caterpillar will partner with Navistar to build dump trucks, injecting itself into that market in unprecedented fashion for the company. The move "plays to Cat's strengths," said Group President Doug Oberhelman. The generally positive news is tempered by the fact that Caterpillar will be coupling these investments with a restructuring that MAY NOT necessarily lead to a net increase in jobs. This is not an expansion of Caterpillar facilities - there won't be a larger footprint - but an updating, a retooling, designed to increase efficiency and productivity as Cat pursues its goal of becoming a $100 billion company by the year 2020. Its revenues are a little less than half that now.
The whole story:
Our View: A lot of bang for a billion bucks
Journal Star
Posted Jun 12, 2008 @ 06:55 PM
Last update Jun 13, 2008 @ 12:26 AM
PEORIA —Good economic news arrived in central Illinois Thursday as Caterpillar announced not only a big new bulldozer contract with the U.S. Army but a billion-dollar infusion in its Illinois manufacturing plants, including those in East Peoria and Mossville.
It is the largest local investment by Caterpillar in more than two decades, since it launched its $1.8 billion Plants With A Future global modernization program in 1987. Plants in Joliet, Decatur and Aurora also will see improvements.
Cat additionally unveiled a change in strategy, as it's getting out of what it considers an iffy on-road truck engine business. Even though such engines are only about 10 percent of Cat's business, it's a gamble after investing so much in its higher-efficiency, lower-emission, diesel engine technology - called ACERT (Advanced Combustion Engine Reduction Technology) - over the last decade. ACERT remains crucial to the company's off-road vehicle lines.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar will partner with Navistar to build dump trucks, injecting itself into that market in unprecedented fashion for the company. The move "plays to Cat's strengths," said Group President Doug Oberhelman.
The generally positive news is tempered by the fact that Caterpillar will be coupling these investments with a restructuring that may not necessarily lead to a net increase in jobs. This is not an expansion of Caterpillar facilities - there won't be a larger footprint - but an updating, a retooling, designed to increase efficiency and productivity as Cat pursues its goal of becoming a $100 billion company by the year 2020. Its revenues are a little less than half that now.
Oberhelman said he expects employment numbers to fluctuate and that the company will make every effort to retrain and redeploy existing workers whose jobs are phased out. That's change, of course - especially at Mossville, which will transition to some new product lines - and change always makes people uneasy.
Nonetheless, we think central Illinoisans should feel pretty comfortable with these moves, for several reasons.
First and foremost, by reinvesting in local plants to make them "first class ... globally competitive," Cat is positioning itself for a future that very much includes central Illinois.
Second, all things considered Cat's crystal ball has been pretty clear these past 20 years, as its business decisions have paid off in ways they haven't for other U.S. manufacturers. That has protected jobs, long-term. Don't believe us. Ask employees at the likes of Ford and General Motors if they'd like to trade places.
Third, the locals sometimes forget that Caterpillar's economic influence here extends well beyond its direct impact. Its area suppliers can now look to the future with greater confidence, which could mean spin-off that is "a multiple of that billion dollars," said Oberhelman.
Fourth, free traders though we are, we're still mighty happy to see a billion spent here rather than in China, where Cat already has 16 facilities up and running, with more in development. In total Cat's capital expenditures around the world will be $2.5 billion this year.
Nonetheless, Oberhelman emphasizes that "we are still, even today, one of the few net exporters to China. In other words, we send more to China than we take out of China." This domestic reinvestment will help to keep it that way, he said. "For us that's the win of the global economy. That's why Caterpillar is strong and Peoria is strong right now," bucking national trends.
"We can send those D8s from East Peoria to China where there's a market ... so big and growing internally that our facilities there are having trouble keeping up with the demand locally," said Oberhelman. "That's a win-win for everybody."
No company is perfect - and we sometimes hear from disgruntled employees and retirees about how far from it Caterpillar is - but in fact Peoria would be a ghost town if Caterpillar weren't here. Precious few Fortune 50 companies are headquartered in metropolitan areas as small as Peoria. The same can be said of State Farm in Bloomington.
To the degree these investments and transformations solidify Cat's presence in central Illinois, they are certainly worth celebrating.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar will partner with Navistar to build dump trucks, injecting itself into that market in unprecedented fashion for the company. The move "plays to Cat's strengths," said Group President Doug Oberhelman. The generally positive news is tempered by the fact that Caterpillar will be coupling these investments with a restructuring that MAY NOT necessarily lead to a net increase in jobs. This is not an expansion of Caterpillar facilities - there won't be a larger footprint - but an updating, a retooling, designed to increase efficiency and productivity as Cat pursues its goal of becoming a $100 billion company by the year 2020. Its revenues are a little less than half that now.
The whole story:
Our View: A lot of bang for a billion bucks
Journal Star
Posted Jun 12, 2008 @ 06:55 PM
Last update Jun 13, 2008 @ 12:26 AM
PEORIA —Good economic news arrived in central Illinois Thursday as Caterpillar announced not only a big new bulldozer contract with the U.S. Army but a billion-dollar infusion in its Illinois manufacturing plants, including those in East Peoria and Mossville.
It is the largest local investment by Caterpillar in more than two decades, since it launched its $1.8 billion Plants With A Future global modernization program in 1987. Plants in Joliet, Decatur and Aurora also will see improvements.
Cat additionally unveiled a change in strategy, as it's getting out of what it considers an iffy on-road truck engine business. Even though such engines are only about 10 percent of Cat's business, it's a gamble after investing so much in its higher-efficiency, lower-emission, diesel engine technology - called ACERT (Advanced Combustion Engine Reduction Technology) - over the last decade. ACERT remains crucial to the company's off-road vehicle lines.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar will partner with Navistar to build dump trucks, injecting itself into that market in unprecedented fashion for the company. The move "plays to Cat's strengths," said Group President Doug Oberhelman.
The generally positive news is tempered by the fact that Caterpillar will be coupling these investments with a restructuring that may not necessarily lead to a net increase in jobs. This is not an expansion of Caterpillar facilities - there won't be a larger footprint - but an updating, a retooling, designed to increase efficiency and productivity as Cat pursues its goal of becoming a $100 billion company by the year 2020. Its revenues are a little less than half that now.
Oberhelman said he expects employment numbers to fluctuate and that the company will make every effort to retrain and redeploy existing workers whose jobs are phased out. That's change, of course - especially at Mossville, which will transition to some new product lines - and change always makes people uneasy.
Nonetheless, we think central Illinoisans should feel pretty comfortable with these moves, for several reasons.
First and foremost, by reinvesting in local plants to make them "first class ... globally competitive," Cat is positioning itself for a future that very much includes central Illinois.
Second, all things considered Cat's crystal ball has been pretty clear these past 20 years, as its business decisions have paid off in ways they haven't for other U.S. manufacturers. That has protected jobs, long-term. Don't believe us. Ask employees at the likes of Ford and General Motors if they'd like to trade places.
Third, the locals sometimes forget that Caterpillar's economic influence here extends well beyond its direct impact. Its area suppliers can now look to the future with greater confidence, which could mean spin-off that is "a multiple of that billion dollars," said Oberhelman.
Fourth, free traders though we are, we're still mighty happy to see a billion spent here rather than in China, where Cat already has 16 facilities up and running, with more in development. In total Cat's capital expenditures around the world will be $2.5 billion this year.
Nonetheless, Oberhelman emphasizes that "we are still, even today, one of the few net exporters to China. In other words, we send more to China than we take out of China." This domestic reinvestment will help to keep it that way, he said. "For us that's the win of the global economy. That's why Caterpillar is strong and Peoria is strong right now," bucking national trends.
"We can send those D8s from East Peoria to China where there's a market ... so big and growing internally that our facilities there are having trouble keeping up with the demand locally," said Oberhelman. "That's a win-win for everybody."
No company is perfect - and we sometimes hear from disgruntled employees and retirees about how far from it Caterpillar is - but in fact Peoria would be a ghost town if Caterpillar weren't here. Precious few Fortune 50 companies are headquartered in metropolitan areas as small as Peoria. The same can be said of State Farm in Bloomington.
To the degree these investments and transformations solidify Cat's presence in central Illinois, they are certainly worth celebrating.
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