PEORIA, Ill., April 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- To better
capitalize on the growing importance and excitement of data
analytics and to drive innovation to support customers, Caterpillar
Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced the formation of a new division,
Analytics & Innovation (AI), which will be led by Caterpillar
Vice President Greg Folley. The
division will bring together the people and resources that will
foster a culture with innovation at the core, form a broad and
connected analytics ecosystem and manage strategic third party
relationships with providers like Chicago, Illinois-based Uptake, a start-up
with which the company recently announced a technology and
predictive analytics agreement.
Caterpillar will co-locate key employees with the Uptake team in
Chicago to accelerate the work
needed to create a platform that takes massive amounts of data,
combines it with data science to understand patterns and quickly
deploys information to save customers money, optimize performance
and prevent unplanned downtime. The company is also placing
resources in the Silicon Valley and has seeded money in a venture
capital fund with the goal of investing in emerging technologies
that could further enhance Caterpillar's product and service
development. All of these activities under the umbrella of the AI
division will complement the innovative work that thousands of
Caterpillar employees are already doing around the world— a trait
that has been critical to Caterpillar's success since the formation
of the company 90 years ago.
"We know that technology and information are the drivers in
almost every industry including ours; we have to continue pushing
our company to be innovative - to imagine, create, and embrace the
new and the different, and to be disruptive in our own way," said
Rob Charter, Caterpillar group
president with responsibility for the Customer & Dealer Support
(C&DS) division. "A huge opportunity for competitive advantage
lies in the analytics and innovation space, and we have a unique
opportunity to connect data from the broadest product line that
cuts across multiple industries. We can transform the mountains of
incoming data – from a single machine or engine, an entire job
site, the supply chain, a shipping location and much more – into
valuable information for our customers and suppliers more
efficiently and effectively than anyone else. As the vice president
of Reman, Components & Work Tools (RCWT) since 2011, Greg has
led the organization to adopt innovative technologies, making him
the ideal choice for this new position."
Since joining Caterpillar in 1995, Folley has held numerous
positions including senior labor relations consultant, human
resources manager, corporate labor relations manager, U.K. HR
Shared Services director, director of Compensation and Benefits and
general manager of the Specialty Products Business Unit of Motion
and Power Control Division. In 2008, the Caterpillar Board of
Directors named Folley vice president of the Core Components
Division, and in 2009, he was appointed vice president of the Human
Services Division. He has a bachelor's degree in economics and a
Juris Doctor from the University of Notre
Dame, and has completed the Executive Program at
Stanford University.
New Responsibilities for Doug
Hoerr
With Folley leading AI, Doug Hoerr will now become the vice president
with responsibility for the RCWT Division, reporting to Charter.
Hoerr is currently the vice president of the Strategic Services
Division (SSD).
"Doug's more than two decades of experience ranging from
accounting, to business manager in several Caterpillar groups to
his work on strategic acquisitions and divestitures are a strong
foundation for leading the diverse RCWT group, which must closely
collaborate with units across the company," said Charter. "He has
fantastic business acumen and, as the former Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) for the C&DS division, he comes to the table with
deep expertise of RCWT's business."
Hoerr began his 21-year career with Caterpillar in accounting.
He held several accounting and business analysis roles throughout
the company, including senior leadership positions in Caterpillar's
engines business. He served as the senior business manager for
Large Power Systems & Growth Markets, and in 2012, was named
CFO for the C&DS group. Caterpillar's Board of Directors
appointed him vice president of SSD in 2014. Hoerr holds a
bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Illinois. He is also a certified
public accountant.
The functions of SSD including the Strategic Planning,
Economics, Business Risk Management, Revenue Management and
Competitive Analysis groups, will be incorporated into the Finance
Services Division led by Vice President Mike DeWalt. DeWalt will continue to report to
Caterpillar Group President and CFO Brad
Halverson. The Strategic Investments department in
SSD, which manages Caterpillar's Mergers & Acquisitions
activities and is led by Derrick
York, will also report to Halverson.
All changes are effective May 1,
2015.
About Caterpillar:
For 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has
been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive
change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help
them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets.
With 2014 sales and revenues of $55.184
billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of
construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines,
industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The
company principally operates through its three product segments -
Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy &
Transportation - and also provides financing and related services
through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit
caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit
caterpillar.com/social-media.
Forward-looking Statements:
Certain statements in this
press release relate to future events and expectations and are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe,"
"estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate,"
"plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar
words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend
descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance,
and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and
regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the
industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies
and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes,
component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products
or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or
volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of
liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers;
(v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events
beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi)
failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting
increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost
of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital
markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated
with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest
rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in
delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's
customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing,
all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their
impact on demand for our products and our competitive position;
(xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products
that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly
competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and
pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits
from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash
flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a
failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or
future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management
decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM
customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and
regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or
anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense
or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat
Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased
pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other
employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings,
claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in
accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security;
(xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural
disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under
"Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on
February 17, 2015, for the year ended
December 31, 2014.
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SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.