Caterpillar 2011 Annual Report Download - page 18

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WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS | 2011 YEAR IN REVIEW
Chairman’s
Message
Construction
Industries
Customer &
Dealer Support
Financial Products &
Corporate Services
The Caterpillar
Foundation Leadership Performance
Resource
Industries
Energy &
Power Systems
Resource Industries 18
Today, mining is key to providing what the world needs. Countries
must build infrastructure to serve the growing demand for reliable
power, transportation, housing, clean water and sanitation. And
at every step along the development journey, Caterpillar is
there with solutions that fuel sustainable growth.
As the demand for mined minerals grows, so does the need for
a broad range of equipment and solutions to support the mining
industry. With the broadest product offering in the industry,
Caterpillar is proud to offer customers a one-stop shop for
surface and underground mining equipment.
Caterpillar is taking a multipronged approach to building and
maintaining a top spot in the mining industry: expand capacity
and production to meet demand, build product depth, develop
mining solutions and leverage the Caterpillar dealer network to
provide the broadest range of products and customer support.
Caterpillar has recently announced billions of dollars in invest-
ments to expand, build and update mining facilities and products
around the world. And by embracing the Caterpillar Production
System, Caterpillar is driving manufacturing excellence and
optimizing efficiencies in each of these facilities to effectively
meet customer demands.
In terms of product depth, Caterpillar is closely reviewing its
full product portfolio to identify potential gaps at the model level.
As an example, the Large Mining Truck and Hydraulic Mining
Shovel product lines are being reviewed to optimize the loading-
hauling match for all models. In addition, with Caterpillar’s
announced intent to acquire a leading Chinese manufacturer
of underground mining roof support systems, the company
expects to have a Longwall Mining platform to begin building
a portfolio to better meet the needs of customers in the China
coal industry.
As for developing solutions, Caterpillar is identifying ways
to leverage machine and mine level data in new and innovative
ways. The Cat® MineStar™ System, introduced in 2011, is the
industry’s broadest, most comprehensively integrated mine
operations and mobile equipment management system.
Configurable to suit any mine operation, the system helps
customers manage everything from material tracking to
sophisticated real-time fleet management, machine health systems,
autonomous equipment systems and more. Autonomous mining
solutions eliminate the need for human machine operators,
which can improve safety, equipment availability and overall
productivity on a mine site. And that’s particularly important for
remote operations where attracting and retaining skilled human
labor is a challenge.
Mining Product
Breadth
Caterpillar’s next steps in mining