October 2010 Vol. 65 No. 10
Business
Caterpillar Selects Victoria, TX, For New Hydraulic Excavator Facility
Caterpillar Inc. has selected the city of Victoria, TX, as the location for the company’s new state-of-the-art hydraulic excavator manufacturing facility. Ground breaking for the 600,000-square-foot manufacturing operation occurred in September. The facility is expected to begin production in mid-2012. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to employ more than 500 people and would triple Caterpillar’s U.S.-based excavator capacity.
“Based on our comprehensive review of possible locations, Victoria’s proximity to our supply base, access to ports and other transportation, as well as the positive business climate in Texas made this the ideal site for this project,” said Gary Stampanato, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for excavators. “Caterpillar is committed to maintaining its global leadership position in the excavator industry, and this new facility in Texas will play an important role in our long-term plans to provide customers in every region of the world with the products and solutions they need to help them with their businesses.”
Currently in the U.S., Caterpillar produces two excavator models at a facility in Aurora, IL, where it also produces wheel loaders, soil and landfill compactors, wheel dozers and components. In addition, Caterpillar produces excavators in Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Indonesia, Japan and Russia. The new facility will manufacture the two models now made in Aurora, as well as several additional excavator models now produced in Akashi, Japan, and exported to the United States. The expansion of excavator production in the U.S. will allow the Caterpillar facility in Japan to better serve the growing demand for excavators in Asia. Caterpillar has also recently announced plans to quadruple excavator capacity at its manufacturing facility in Xuzhou, China, primarily in support of growing demand in the Chinese market. www.cat.com
Comments