Manufacturing and Assembly

Manufacturing and Assembly

Major components of the 797 are manufactured and assembled at six Caterpillar or supplier facilities located throughout North America, then shipped to the customer site for final assembly by Caterpillar technicians.

The engine is manufactured by Caterpillar in Lafayette, Indiana and is then shipped to Caterpillar's Decatur, Illinois assembly plant.

The tires are manufactured by Michelin North America at the US7 Earthmover Manufacturing plant in Lexington, South Carolina and are shipped to the customer site.

The driver's cab is manufactured by Bergstrom Climate Control Systems' Contract Assembly division in Joliet, Illinois. Each cab is assembled by one person and requires forty hours to complete. The cab is shipped to the customer site.

The dump body is composed of five components: the floor, the two sides, the front wall and the canopy. The dump body is shipped in component form to the customer site where it is assembled and welded into one monolithic structure before being joined to the frame during final assembly.

The frame is created from nine individual metal castings manufactured by Amite Foundry and Machine Inc. in Amite City, Louisiana. The smallest casting weighs 500 lb (230 kg) and the largest casting weighs 12,000 lb (5,400 kg). The rough castings are shipped to the Caterpillar Decatur, Illinois assembly plant.

At Caterpillar's Decatur, Illinois assembly plant, the castings are machined to provide clean welding surfaces. The nine castings are placed in a jig and are then joined together by human welders. The frame is moved to a second welding station for further welding by robots. The third and final welding stage is completed by human welders. To ensure quality, welds are tested using an ultrasonic flaw detector. In total, 275 lb (125 kg) of welding wire is used to join the individual castings into a monolithic frame.

Hydraulic lines and electrical wiring are attached to the frame before the powerplant is joined with the frame. The frame/powerplant assembly and the axles are shipped from Caterpillar's Decatur, Illinois assembly plant to the customer site.