Producer
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. (Deerfield, IL; NYSE: CAT; ~$67B revenue 2024) is the world's largest diesel engine manufacturer for power generation applications. Caterpillar's Electric Power division produces the Cat 3500 series (750kW to 4MW prime power) and Cat 3600 series (large marine and industrial up to 16MW) diesel generator set engines, which are the dominant choice for data center, hospital, and critical infrastructure standby power globally. Manufacturing concentrated at Mossville, IL (large engines); Lafayette, IN; and Seguin, TX. Caterpillar's global market share in standby diesel genset engines exceeds 30%, making it the single largest supplier worldwide. Caterpillar also manufactures the same engine families for Perkins-brand smaller gensets (Perkins is a Caterpillar subsidiary since 1997). The Cat C32, Cat 3516, and Cat 3600 engines power the majority of Tier IV data centers globally.
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
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Where they make it
2 facilities
Caterpillar Lafayette Engine Plant (Lafayette, IN) →
USIndiana · manufacturing
Caterpillar engine manufacturing facility in Lafayette, Indiana; produces medium-range diesel engines including the C18 and C32 series used in industrial and power generation gensets. The C32 (1,000 hp, ~750kW) is among the most widely deployed Caterpillar engines in data center and critical infrastructure standby power. Source: https://www.cat.com/en_US/company/caterpillar-in-the-united-states.html
Caterpillar Mossville Engine Center (Peoria, IL) →
USIllinois · manufacturing
Caterpillar's primary large diesel engine manufacturing facility in Mossville, IL (Peoria metro area); produces Cat 3500 and 3600 series diesel engines for power generation, marine, and oil & gas. One of the largest diesel engine manufacturing complexes in the world. The facility has manufactured engines since the 1950s and is the primary source for large standby genset engines used in data centers and critical infrastructure. Source: https://www.cat.com/en_US/company/caterpillar-in-the-united-states.html
What else they do
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Construction Industries (Earthmoving)
38%Resource Industries (Mining, Oil & Gas)
22%Energy & Transportation (Engines, Generators)
30%Financial Products (Cat Financial)
10%
Intelligence
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Did you know2024
Caterpillar is tracked as a construction equipment company (infrastructure supply chain), but its diesel generator division (Cat Electric Power) makes the generators that power: hospital emergency backup systems, data center emergency backup, military base prime power (in forward operating bases with no grid), and disaster response portable power. The hospital supply chain's emergency resilience, the data center supply chain's uptime guarantee, the military logistics supply chain's remote power, and the disaster response supply chain's field operations all depend on Caterpillar diesel generators from the same Mossville, Illinois engine manufacturing platform that builds construction equipment engines. A global diesel fuel shortage or Caterpillar manufacturing disruption simultaneously affects hospital backup power, data center resilience, military field operations, and construction equipment globally.
Caterpillar Inc ↗Origin2023
Caterpillar Inc. was formed in 1925 from the merger of Holt Manufacturing and C.L. Best Tractor Company. Holt Manufacturing's most significant innovation was the continuous track (caterpillar track) system developed in 1904 for steam tractors to traverse California's soft delta soil — the distinctive "caterpillar" motion of the tracks gave the company its name. During WWI, British military observers studying Holt tractors were inspired to develop the tank — the same principle of continuous tracks for cross-terrain mobility became the foundation of armored warfare. Caterpillar's diesel engine expertise, developed for construction and mining applications, led to diesel generator dominance, marine propulsion, and railroad locomotive engine supply chains.
Caterpillar Inc ↗