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Cat opens $130m QLD distribution centre

Caterpillar is showing great faith in the Australian earthmoving market with a new $130m distribution centre, writes Ron Horner


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A COUPLE of weeks ago I was invited to the official opening of Caterpillar’s very impressive new $130 million distribution centre in Yatala, Queensland, located half way between the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

Dignitaries including transport minister Sterling Hinchcliffe and Hastings Deering managing director Dean Mehmet joined 150 construction industry leaders for this showcase event, which doubled as the launch for the very latest in Caterpillar’s Tier 4-compliant heavy machinery.

This distribution centre is the second such facility in Australia (the other is in Melbourne). We are the only country in the world that has two of these centres, apart from the United States which has eight.

The facility is set on 21 hectares, has 56,000 square metres of warehouse space, employs 150 personnel and stores up to 220,000 parts for supply to Cat customers in Australia and around the world.

It forms an integral part of Caterpillar’s world-wide parts network, which has centres in Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Singapore, South America and China.

This project was a culmination of work from teams from Europe, the US, Dubai, India and Australia and employs a brand new workforce with vastly diverse industrial and commercial backgrounds.

The new facility, which operates 24/7, 365 days a year, is capable of distributing 37,000 tonnes of parts a year and dispatches around 1 million lines annually.

 

Cat Tier 4 earthmover launch

The day of the Queensland distribution centre’s opening was deemed perfect for launching and demonstrating Cat’s new range of Tier 4 Final-compliant equipment.

In doing so, Hastings Deering — which is headquartered in Brisbane and has operations throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands — became the first dealership to launch such low-emission earthmoving equipment into Australia.

On display and lined up for demonstration were Cat’s new 950M loader, 825M compactor, 745C articulated dump truck, D7E dozer, 140M grader, 323F excavator and — my favourite — the 335F excavator complete with blade attachment.

I had been waiting since 1980 for a heavy machinery manufacturer to design and build an excavator of suitable size with a blade so you can imagine my excitement.

In fact, I arranged for a TradeEarthmovers.com.au test straight away. Follow these links to read my Cat 323F excavator review and watch the Cat 323F excavator video.

 

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