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Caterpillar To Open New Parts Distribution Facility in South Africa to Enhance Customer Support

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Caterpillar To Open New Parts Distribution Facility in South Africa to Enhance Customer Support:

Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) (www.Caterpillar.com) today announced plans to consolidate its parts distribution centers in Isando, South Africa into a new parts distribution facility near Johannesburg at about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the existing centers. The new facility is expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2017. The consolidation provides several advantages including enabling the company to work more efficiently, while increasing the capability to provide unmatched parts availability to customers in Africa.

“This investment in our new and more efficient 60,000 m² (645,000 square-feet) facility demonstrates our deep commitment to Caterpillar customers in Africa. We are positioned to deliver the best solution to satisfy customer service needs now and far into the future. It is a win-win for our customers, our dealers in the region and Caterpillar. Caterpillar and our dealers know that getting replacement parts to our customers, such as a new filter or undercarriage, as quickly as possible is extremely important to reduce idle time and save money,” said Bonnie Fetch, Cat Parts Distribution Director.

“Bringing our parts distribution under one roof in South Africa and expanding our parts distribution capabilities clearly illustrate South Africa’s importance as a hub for our business in the Southern African countries. This will further improve our service to customers throughout the region,” added Chris Monge, District Manager for Southern Africa based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The consolidation is part of the previously announced plan of Caterpillar, its independent dealers and the Caterpillar Foundation to invest more than $ 1 billion in countries throughout Africa over five years.

This is yet another step in a long and rich Caterpillar history in Africa. The first Cat dealer outside of the United States was in Tunisia in 1926, followed shortly by Barloworld in South Africa. The dealer network is present in almost every African country, serving customers who help build and power communities and, ultimately, improve lives.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Caterpillar Inc..

Media Contact:
Erik De Leye
Global Government & Corporate Affairs
Office: +32 2550 3537
Mobile: +32 475 691 799
De_Leye_Erik@cat.com

About Caterpillar: 
For more than 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. (www.Caterpillar.com) 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 2016 sales and revenues of $ 38.537 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 www.Caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit www.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 speak only as of the date they are made, 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) commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (v) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers’ needs; (vi) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (vii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (viii) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (ix) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (x) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xiii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; (xiv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xv) 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; (xvi) our Financial Products segment’s risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xviii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial’s customers; (xix) currency fluctuations; (xx) our or Cat Financial’s compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xxi) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxii) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxiii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xxiv) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxvii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and (xxviii) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar’s Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa.

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