Caterpillar Inc. announced on Nov. 30 that it will acquire JCS Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Jinsung T.E.C. Co., Ltd., a South Korea-based manufacturer that specializes in producing undercarriage components for earthmoving and other off-road machinery.
Currently Jinsung supplies Caterpillar with rollers, idlers and metal-faced seals used on a wide range of Caterpillar machines.
Caterpillar said that the acquisition will provide proprietary technology to competitively produce highly engineered seals that will improve machine undercarriage reliability and durability.
"In recent years, Caterpillar has made significant investments in its emerging market operations in Asia Pacific to support a growing base of customers in the region," said David Bozeman, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for undercarriage production. "This strategic acquisition will improve Caterpillar's supply chain and component capacity in support of Caterpillar's long-term machine capacity expansion plans in Asia."
The JCS seal manufacturing facility will be the first factory for Caterpillar in South Korea. It will complement Caterpillar's existing footprint in Asia Pacific, which includes manufacturing facilities in China, India, Indonesia and Australia.
"As one of the largest economies in the world, and with a well developed and sophisticated base of suppliers, South Korea is growing in importance as a market for Caterpillar products and as a potential location for manufacturing in the region," said Rich Lavin, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Asia Pacific.
