Cat To Close Five More Plants

Caterpillar Inc. will close five U.S. plants and shed about 820 positions as it continues to adjust to weak demand in the global equipment markets, according to reports in the financial press.

The moves are a continuation of the plan Cat first announced in September, with the company facing its third straight year of declining sales. Ultimately, Cat said it would seek to eliminate more than 10,000 positions and close or consolidate 20 facilities between 2015 and 2018. To date, Cat said it has cut approximately 5300 employees.

Caterpillar said it will close its generator set plant in Newberry, S.C., along with a facility in Ridgeway, S.C., that produces gen-set controls. Those operations will be assumed by the company’s engine facilities in Seguin, Texas, Lafayette, Ind., and Griffin, Ga.

A hose coupling plant in Oxford, Miss., will be shuttered next year, with much of that work moving to a Cat plant in Menominee, Mich., and the rest outsourced to suppliers.  The Jacksonville, Fla., facility that manufactures buckets and work tools for wheel loaders will be shut down this year, to be replaced by suppliers.

Cat’s Morganton, N.C., engine and undercarriage plant will cease production next year, with the production going to other Cat facilities and suppliers. Also on the engine side, the company said it will raze the idle Mossville engine plant to save maintenance and operating costs.