Doug Hoerr, vice president of the Material Handling & Underground Division (MH&U), has elected to retire from the company on 1 August 2017.
“For more than 20 years of his career with Caterpillar, Doug worked in a wide range of accounting and finance roles with increasing levels of responsibility and global scope,” said Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar CEO. “In 2012, Doug was named group CFO for Customer & Dealer Support, a position he held until being named a Caterpillar vice president in 2015.”
In his role as CFO for Customer & Dealer Support, Hoerr was instrumental in coordinating key elements of the Across the Table initiative, which drove improved performance and alignment between Caterpillar and the worldwide dealer network. Most recently within MH&U, Hoerr led the execution of Caterpillar's Operating & Execution Model resulting in restructuring of the MH&U operational footprint as well as the product portfolio.
Caterpillar is also announcing changes in responsibilities for current Caterpillar vice presidents Tom Bluth, Jean Savage and Karl Weiss. These changes will be effective 1 August 2017.
Bluth, who was first named a vice president in 2007 and is currently vice president of the Surface Mining & Technology Division (SM&T), will become Caterpillar’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the vice president of the Innovation & Technology Development Division (ITDD).
Savage, who was first named a Caterpillar vice president in 2014 and is currently Caterpillar’s CTO and the vice president of ITDD, will become the vice president of SM&T on 1 August 2017. She was formerly senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Locomotive and Railcar Services business unit for Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services (PRS).
In 2013, Weiss was named a Caterpillar vice president for the Earthmoving Division, the position he still holds today. Weiss will become the vice president of MH&U, replacing Hoerr.
Since joining Caterpillar in 1992, Weiss has had various assignments within product development at Caterpillar’s Decatur, Joliet and Aurora, Illinois, facilities, primarily focused on large machine structural design. Weiss subsequently transferred to Geneva, Switzerland, with Caterpillar Global Mining as an equipment management consultant serving mining customers and dealers in Europe and Africa. He then became the large wheeled loader new product introduction manager in Aurora. Weiss then moved to Beijing, China, for four years where he served as the wheel loader product manager for the Asia Pacific Region. He then was named the worldwide product manager for medium wheel loaders in Aurora before being named Earthmoving vice president in 2013.
Caterpillar’s board of directors has appointed Frederic Istas, currently aftermarket solutions global manager for Caterpillar’s Global Aftermarket Solutions Division, to the position of vice president of the Earthmoving Division.
“Building on his more than 20 years with Caterpillar, Frederic brings strong product management leadership experience from previous roles in the United States and Europe, as well as product support and marketing experience to this role,” Umpleby said.
Istas joined Caterpillar in 1996 as part of the Europe, Africa & Middle East (EAME) Marketing Division, based in Geneva, Switzerland. He held roles as a 6 Sigma black belt and master black belt. In 2004, Istas was named district manager for the EAME Marketing Division in Geneva. From 2008-11, he was a global process owner in the Global Revenue Management Group based in Peoria.
