W&A Engineering employees were given the opportunity to take a tour of the new Caterpillar Building Construction Products (BCP) Division facility by the Operations Manager, Todd Henry.
When we arrived, Henry gave us a presentation on the basics, focusing on safety measures and the different types of machines that are to be manufactured at this $200 million facility, smaller excavators and tractors. We learned that Athens will be the only Caterpillar location manufacturing certain types of excavators to supply the entire world’s Caterpillar dealers. The main 838,365 square foot building is separated into 3 areas: fabrication and paint, assembly, and office. We began our tour with the fabrication and paint portion of the building, which is also the first step in the production process. Here we were shown the different types of welding techniques and equipment used for fabrication. The powder paint process was described to us and we were shown the paint room and oven where the parts will be primed, painted, and cured. Moving along, we then walked across the main hallway and into the assembly portion of the building. Here we were shown the process of putting the fabricated and painted parts together to create a finished product. W&A employees learned so much from this experience and were intrigued by the production process and equipment used in the facility.
Thank you Caterpillar for welcoming us into your work space and taking the time to show us how the facility operates. We are proud to say that we played a role in the construction of the building and bringing Caterpillar to Athens!