CAT Restructuring Affects Lafayette
(Image Courtesy Caterpillar Oil & Gas) The Caterpillar Lafayette Engine Center
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIllinois-based Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) says it will close six plants as part of on-going restructuring efforts. Though Indiana operations are spared from closings in this round of cuts, the global manufacturer says it will move some remanufacturing work from its massive Lafayette Engine Center to a facility in Mississippi.
Caterpillar says no layoffs in Tippecanoe County will result from this action. The company has a presence in seven Indiana communities, with its largest Indiana operation in Lafayette. The other locations Charlestown, Franklin, East Chicago, Greenfield, Indianapolis and Plainfield serve logistics, manufacturing or distribution functions.
CAT’s plans include reducing its global work force by up to 10,000 employees through 2018. In September, the company said nearly half of the potential cuts are slated to take place by year’s end. This round involves 670 jobs. The company expects to save $1.5 billion annually when the reductions are complete.
An excerpt from a company statement says:
The company will transfer some remanufacturing work currently being performed in Lafayette, Indiana, to the company’s remanufacturing hub in Corinth, Mississippi. No layoffs are anticipated in Lafayette as a result of this move. Caterpillar facilities in Mississippi plan to add about 45 positions over the next few years as a result of continued global consolidation of its engine remanufacturing business.