Caters Tractors

Client: Caters Tractors *
Location: USA
Industry: Industrial Equipment
Date: 2008-Present

*Please note that due to the competitive nature of this product line, the actual product and company names have been substituted

For more than 80 years, Caters Tractors has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. Due to labor issues, like the strike in June of 1994 and a five-and-a-half-month strike in 1991-92, led Caters to start working with outsourcing companies. The company also is a leading services provider through Caters Financial Services, Caters Remanufacturing Services, Caters Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services.

Cater’s trend toward outsourcing began in the early 1990s, more than 20 years ago, in response to labor disputes. They realized that a business cannot simply define outsourcing as a means to pay lower wages. Cost reduction, chasing talent globally, aligning product life cycles to critical natural resources all have made outsourcing the silver bullet for meeting financial challenges and achieving business outcomes. Caters, sophisticated in its analytical approach to the economies of outsourcing, sought a business alliance that could accurately, efficiently, and profitably help manage the Caters supply chain. They identified competency in supply chain management as a major part of the company’s commitment to product quality.

Cater’s has a well-articulated process for selecting outsourcing partners. The selection of outsourcing resources occurs after the following qualification procedures:

Step 1: Identify which components of your business are candidates for outsourcing

Step 2: Determine whether your needs in these areas are temporary and warrant outsourcing

Step 3: Try to identify what it currently costs to operate these areas

Step 4: Ensure that choosing the outsourcer is a cost-effective and viable solution

Step 5: Interview several “outsourcers” before making a selection

Step 6: Prepare a written contract and review with legal counsel if you feel it is necessary. Ensure that the contract has performance metrics that outline the level of service or production expected of the outsourcer

Step 7: Be willing to negotiate as needed

Step 8: Schedule regular meetings with those who work outside the company

Step 9: Review performance regularly.

As Caters Tractors worked through the qualification and selection process, it identified E-BI to be the best choice. For over 20 years, E-BI has been helping clients set up and manage reliable international supply chains. More than two decades of global supply chain experience have taught them how to incorporate resiliency into their customer’s supply chain networks, minimizing the risk of disruptions. E-BI’s on-site teams help to mitigate supply chain risks, working to protect their customer’s supply chains that often begin far from their home countries. By establishing reliable supply chain management overseas, E-BI can offer its customers cost-effective, high-quality supply chain management services.

According to Paul Filmes, Purchasing Director at Caters tractor, E-BI has the essential elements to manage a complex supply chain, including the ability to measure how accurately, efficiently and profitably products can be produced and what is impressive about E-BI is that they “get it‟. He continues to state they were also impressed with E-BI’s almost fanatic, detail keeping with the Sigma Six approach, which is the same approach they integrate within Caters. This partnership between Cater’s and E-BI started in October of 2008 and is still ongoing today in 2021.