Today was, sadly, the concluding day to my experience at Caterpillar, but was joyous nonetheless. We started by heading to Sanford, where their Skid Steer Loaders are made. This facility, in comparison to the Clayton assembly plant, is a powerhouse. They manufacture and assemble 140 machines every day, though the machines are significantly smaller. Today’s tours were also nearly entirely confidential, so I have instead opted for another Google maps representation.
After a brief presentation about the facility’s purpose, we went on a tour of the plant, beginning with building A. This is where the cab of the loader is made as a “subassembly” of the entire vehicle. It is made separately to keep the primary assembly line moving quickly. After the cab is fully assembled and tested, it is moved over to building B, where the machines are built from start to finish. This begins with a chassis—the large metal frame which holds the wheels on either side and the cab above it—then continues to the addition of the lifting arm, cab subassembly, wheels, engine, etc. Building B is entirely dedicated to constructing the skid steer loaders.
Aside from a few drivetrain components, Caterpillar also fabricates almost all of the machine at their Sanford facility. This includes the chassis, which is built from sheet metal in building A, specifically in the fabrication shop.
As we entered the fabrication “shop,” I was greeted with the caustic sting of smoke and vaporized metal, then a standing haze of grey exhaust. This was nothing short of an industrial welding factory. However, welding these sheet metal plates into chassis was not the duty of individual welders, but instead steel-
reinforced, MIG wielding robotic arms! The self-governing welders were housed in individual black booths, each with its own in-progress chassis. Beyond just the welding robots, there were also forklift robots, which picked up sheet metal, incomplete chassis, or even tools. These hauling robots were akin to self-driving cars, but were instead guided by magnetic tape in the floor or laser guidance systems and retro-reflective targeting cylinders. Sound complicated? That’s what I thought too. Nonetheless, all these robots have improved production speed and accuracy and are therefore the basis of Caterpillar’s production.
After touring the production plant, we went to lunch at Fat Juniors, a great little burger shack right outside the facility.
We then returned to the plant for a presentation on finite element analysis by Ms. Mayuri—it’s like stress testing a component but on a computer. She explained some of the ways parts can break by using paperclips. They can be pulled apart, bent in half, or snapped after repeated bending. It was very informative and gave me a great picture of how math and physics are used in engineering.
Finally, we went to the VR room, which houses an HTC Vive. During this wonderful excursion, we all got to fly around a backhoe loader in VR, and even fly inside the engine! Virtual Reality is a new tool to Caterpillar, but could be very useful for testing and validating designs quickly.
After the VR room, we said our goodbyes and drove home. Thank you to everyone at Caterpillar for teaching me just about everything I’ve ever wanted to know. I had a great time this week!