Diversified Products

Nowhere within Caterpillar is its broad range of products and solutions more apparent than in the Diversified Products group. This group manages a portfolio of strategic businesses and serves the market and product needs of customers in a variety of distinct industries.

The division has six businesses: Paving Products, Forest Products, Work Tools, Tunneling, OEM Solutions and Defense & Federal Products. In late 2011, Caterpillar signed an alliance agreement with Exodus Machines Inc., a purpose-built manufacturer of scrap/industrial material handlers. This alliance led to the creation of a new diversified products business called Caterpillar Industrial & Waste.

Highlights from 2011 include:

• Paving Products is dedicated to supporting the asphalt and paving industry all over the world. This industry is a critically important part of building and maintaining the world's infrastructure. The paving group opened a new customer support and learning center at its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Forest Products also serves a dedicated group of customers. It's focused not only on designing and manufacturing purpose-built forestry machines, but also on enabling Caterpillar to offer a full line of traditional machines configured for forestry applications. In 2011 the division introduced a new product line of Tier 4i Wheeled Feller Bunchers. These machines were developed with an innovative rear-mounted transverse engine design that delivers the best stability in the woods, with improved fuel consumption.

• Caterpillar Work Tools are designed to improve the productivity of Cat machines. Growth in the work tool business led to plant expansions at facilities in Waco, Texas, and Wamego, Kan. The Waco facility is home to a new line of Caterpillar engineered and designed hydraulic hammers for use in the demolition industry.
• OEM Solutions and Defense & Federal Products are businesses that leverage Cat machine and power system products, designs and technologies to achieve incremental growth by serving other unique and discrete customers and industries. As an example, OEM Solutions sells components and partially built machines to other OEMs in foundation drill, material handling, mining, industrial and demolition markets. The mobile hydraulic power unit configured from the hydraulic excavator platform, now has an active population of over 2,000 units in the field today.

"We've been given a great opportunity to bring people together to serve a wide array of diverse customers and businesses," said Bill Springer, vice president with responsibility for Diversified Products. "We manage our businesses independently and allow our leaders to lead and our experts who know their businesses to thrive and grow. We place a priority on learning, and we leverage our diversity to teach one another how to solve problems and to accelerate our mutual business success."