Peoria, Ill., USA - October 15, 2012, Peoria, Ill., USA - Caterpillar Inc., a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, announced two group presidents retirements and appointment of vice president for China.
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After more than 39 years with Caterpillar, Bill Springer, vice president of the Diversified Products Division, has elected to retire, effective February 1, 2013.
Mr. Springer joined Caterpillar in 1973. Early in his career, he worked in various parts and service marketing positions, including six years where he worked extensively with Caterpillar dealers in Latin America and the Middle East. Mr. Springer spent 10 years in a variety of product support development and marketing roles, including marketing manager for the Cat Service Technology Group.
Mr. Springer served as general manager for Cat Export Services, then accepted the position of district manager with Caterpillar of Australia, and after that he became president of Caterpillar Logistics Services. Mr. Springer was elected vice president with responsibility for the Product Support Division in 2002. Hie last positions were vice president with responsibility for the Quarry and Specialty Industries Division and vice president with responsibility for the Diversified Products Division.
The company also announced that after 35 years with Caterpillar, Gary Stampanato, vice president of the Excavation Division, has elected to retire, effective February 1, 2013. Since joining Caterpillar in 1978 as part of Caterpillar’s College Training & Management Development program, he has held numerous positions, including a variety of manufacturing-related positions. In 1989, he was named product development manager for large mining equipment at Caterpillar’s Decatur, Ill., facility.
Mr. Stampanato also served as product manager for large wheel loaders and general manager for the hydraulics/fabrications business unit before being named general manager of the Large Engine Center in Lafayette, Ind. In 2006, Caterpillar named him vice president with responsibility for the Infrastructure Product Development Division and later vice president of the Excavation Division.
The company also announced that it has appointed Qihua Chen as a Caterpillar vice president and country manager in China, effective January 1, 2013.
Mr. Chen has been with Caterpillar for 18 years and he has held a range of manufacturing positions with increasing responsibility in China. He played a key role leading the integration of Shandong Engineering Machinery (SEM), a wholly-owned Chinese wheel loader manufacturer acquired by Caterpillar. In addition, he was based at Caterpillar’s Technical Center in Mossville, Ill., from 1999 through 2003. ■