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ever they are. Arguably, the epicenter of that effort depends on the Greenville, SC-based Caterpillar MCOE. An early January site visit by MarineNews brought the impressive capability of this ultra-modern facility into full focus.Over time, the Cat vision of delivering products to ma- rine customers that meet and exceed expectations has not changed. As the MCOE facility matured, it has added new capabilities to meet these needs as well as robustness and efÞ ciency to its processes. Starting from an original head- count of 65 MCOE factory, engineering and marketing employees, the Greenville site has now grown to more than 150 support staff, with another 250 working on other Cat tasks. The DNV and ISO:9001-2008 certiÞ ed center has been in this location for 17 years and now is home to high volume engine production that sees annual audits by all the major classiÞ cation societies. And, while bigger and medium speed engines are processed in CatÕs Lafayette, In- diana location, nowhere is the concept of engine Òmarin- izationÓ more important than it is here in Greenville. ENGINE MARINIZATION Although Cat utilizes the same engine block for land and sea applications, thatÕs where the similarities end when it comes to making sure that an engine is ready for a de- manding life on the water. Indeed, the power requirements of marine engines, operating conditions and multiple ves- sel design conÞ gurations for cooling drive the unique re- quirements for marine engines. Corrosion protection is also a critical part of the mariniza- tion equation. For this reason, Cat applies paint prior to as- sembly; they uses a thicker paint application benchmarked to ensure optimal coverage and endurance. And applications do vary Ð pleasure versus commercial. For this reason, a conscious effort to upgrade and change the regulations of land-based paints to marine engine applications is underway. The coating process at MCOE, as MarineNews discovered in January, is highly technical, computerized and versatile. Only after this aspect of preparation with each component is complete will an engine part then leave the paint shop for the assembly line. Brad Fischer explained, ÒThe design of our paint process is intended to deliver corrosion protection and cosmetically meet customer Þ t and Þ nish requirements. Some elements of the Þ nishing process weÕve selected could be varied by another manufacturerÕs choice while achieving similar effect, but varying others would degrade customer performance.Ó MCOE provides the ideal manufacturing environment, blending both high-speed and highly controlled processes with the ability to produce an order-speciÞ c build prod- uct. Beginning with the engine block itself, an innovative monorail transport system, comprising 20 engine car- www.marinelink.com MN April2013 Layout 32-49.indd 45MN April2013 Layout 32-49.indd 454/2/2013 10:56:43 AM4/2/2013 10:56:43 AM
