08/18/2008 14h26
Caterpillar aims at resumption in the country
Valor Econômico 08/18/2008
The international management of Caterpillar bet on an employee with almost 40 years of career to take the office of the President of the Brazilian subsidiary. And Luiz Carlos Calil, 56, born in Piracicaba (SP), besides having accepted the challenge, has already succeeded in putting into practice an investment plan of US$ 200 million in the country, something unseen in the history of the subsidiary in the last ten years. Now, four months after taking over the office, Calil is fully dedicated to the investment plan programmed until 2010, to increase by 20% the productive capacity of Caterpillar in the country. According to him, the Brazilian subsidiary of the manufacturer of machines has total support from the headquarters to carry out the investments and it is taken as reference among the 174 units of the company throughout the world. From the performance of the sales in Brazil, it is possible to notice the impacts of the exchange rate and steel in the company. For the purpose of comparison, according to data of the Brazilian Machinery Manufacturers Association (Abimaq), from January to June, the volume sold in the country, including the imported goods, was 52.3% greater than in the same period of 2007. In total, 6,716 pieces of road equipment were sold. In Caterpillar, the officer expects a 5% increase in the number of units sold in the domestic market over last year. The perspective for Latin America, on its turn, is of a volume 26% above it. The plant, located in Piracicaba (SP), produces seven families of equipment. Except for the area of energy generators, all other products are intended for civil construction, more specifically for paving works. There are more than 40 different models of machines, among bulldozers, hydraulic excavators, backhoes, compactors, graders, wheel loaders and underground machines. Notwithstanding the exchange rate and the current price level of steel being favorable to the profile of production of the Brazilian subsidiary, aimed at the foreign market, the strategy of expansion of the Caterpillar is based on the need of investments in infrastructure not only of Brazil, but all over Latin America. "The resources aim at an increase in the demand in the short term", justified Calil, ruling out the possibility of crisis in the region. Part of the investments will be applied in the construction of two buildings, with areas of 44 thousand and 18 thousand square meters. The rest will be invested in machines, training and in the implementation of the Caterpillar system of production, inspired in the Toyota model.
