
216 Principles of Supply Chain Management
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Caterpillar continues to look for ways to improve its products so that they ensure that
“customers make more money using Cat equipment than using competitors’ equip-
ment” (Colvin 2011, p. 142). In the last 3years, they have increased the dollar amount
spent on research and development (R&D) from $1.905 million to $2,446 million.
Because of their increase in sales, the percentage of sales spent on R&D declined from
4.5% to 3.7% (Caterpillar 2012, p. 8).
SUSTAINABILITY
The company is regulated by federal, state, and international environmental laws gov-
erning the use, transport, and ...