Careers at Cummins

Mission

Cummins manufactures and distributes a range of engine products to customers across the automotive sector, with a view to ensuring the efficiency and reliability of its customers’s products.

Business segments

Cummins organises its operations into four complementary reportable business segments:

  • Engine, which manufactures and markets a broad range of diesel and natural gas powered engines under the Cummins brand name, as well as certain customer brand names, for the heavy- and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, agricultural, construction, mining, marine, oil and gas, rail and governmental equipment markets;
  • Distribution, which services and distribute the full range of Cummins products and services to end-users at approximately 500 locations in over 80 distribution territories across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East;
  • Components, which supplies products which complement the Company’s Engine segment, including after-treatment systems, turbochargers, filtration products and fuel systems for commercial diesel applications for on- and off-highway heavy-duty and mid-range equipment; and
  • Power Generation, designs and manufactures most of the components that make up power generation systems, including controls, alternators, transfer switches and switchgear.

History

Cummins traces its history back to the establishment of the Cummins Engine Company in 1919 by mechanic Clessie Clemens. The Company initially focused on the development of engine technology. It failed to gain notoriety in its early years, and did not gain any significant traction in the industry until 1933, when it introduced its Model H engine, used in small railroad switchers.

Cummins went on to make a name for itself in the road building boom that followed the Second World War, establishing itself as the market leader in US heavy duty truck engine market. The Company built on this platform throughout the remaining years of the 20th Century, and today the Company is a leading manufacturer of engines around the world. Cummins is ranked 148th on the Fortune 500 list. It trades shares on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market capitalisation of $23.03 billion.

Business model of Cummins

Customer Segments

Cummins serves customers within the automotive industry with a broad selection of products. The Company’s customers can principally be organised into the following categories:

  • Original Equipment Manufacturers, comprising manufacturers of automotive products across the light-duty automotive, medium and heavy-duty automotive, commercial automotive, and off—highway automotive markets, as well as the recreational marine market;
  • Distributors, comprising a range of automotive equipment distributors that serve both the original equipment manufacturing market and the automotive aftermarket, including repair and maintenance service providers; and
  • Power Customers, comprising various customers to which the Company provides mid-range, heavy-duty, and high-horsepower engines that for standby, mobile, and distributed power generation solutions.

Cummins’s original equipment manufacturers comprise producers of light-duty vehicles such as passenger automobiles, medium and heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks, commercial vehicles such as buses, and off-highway vehicles such as those used in agriculture and construction.

Cummins has numerous large customers around the world. Its largest customer is PACCAR, which accounted for around 15% of the Company’s consolidated net sales in 2015. The Company also has long-term heavy-duty and mid-range engine supply agreements with Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar, Volvo Trucks North America, and MAN. Cummins also has supply agreements with Fiat Chrysler and Komatsu.

Value Propositions

Cummins provides value to its customers in the following ways:

  • Its track record and reputation, with the Company widely recognised as a reliable and efficient provider of high-quality products and services, indicated by its ability to attract recurring business from high-profile customers such as Volvo Trucks North America;
  • Its broad portfolio of products and services, with the Company offering a range of engine and other equipment products for use in a variety of vehicles, spanning passenger cars to vehicles used in mining, as well as its range power generation products;
  • Its international operational reach, with the Company serving a broad network of clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East;
  • Its commitment to innovation, with the Company committed to developing new and innovative products and processes, devoting a significant portion of its funds each year to research and development projects; and
  • Its industry experience and expertise, with the Company employing specialist personnel across its operating segments, as well as a team of experienced industry executives.

Channels

Cummins operates a website at www.cummins.com, through which it provides information on its various products and services, target markets, and activities. The Company operates an online portal for parts and servicing named QuickServe Online, which customers can use to order parts and arrange the provision of services. The Company also operates an online store, its PowerStore, which offers a range of Cummins-branded merchandise, such as apparel and homeware, to customers.

Cummins primarily serves its customers through a network of approximately 600 company-owned and independent distributor locations and more than 7,200 dealer locations in more than 190 countries and territories. The Company’s owned distributors are located in key markets across its various operating regions, including North America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, India, China, Africa, Russia, Japan, Brazil, Singapore and Central America. Its joint venture distributors are located in similar key markets, including North America, South America, China, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Cummins operates its own in-house manufacturing infrastructure, including a broad range of production facilities for its four operating segments across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa, including locations in Nigeria, Brazil, Turkey, South Korea, and France.

Customer Relationships

Cummins operates multiple channels that allow customers to access products and service son a self-service basis. This notably includes the Company’s QuickServe Online portal, which enables customers to independently arrange the delivery of parts and services, and its PowerStore merchandise portal, which allows customers to browse various products, make purchases, and arrange deliveries without interacting with members of the Company’s sales personnel.

Cummins makes the majority of its sales through its network of distributors and dealer locations. These channels allow the Company to consult directly with customers providing tailored advice and guidance on its products portfolio and service options. Cummins seeks to establish longstanding relationships with its customers, with contracts often spanning multiple years.

Cummins provides ongoing support to its customers, with larger clients provided their own relationship management teams. Customers can also access personalised customer support by contacting the Company over the phone across its various regional offices, as well as by filling in an online contact form. The Company certain online resources, such as a service locator and product registration information.

Alternatively, customers are able to interact directly with Cummins through its social media accounts, including with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Key Activities

Cummins is a manufacturer of diesel engines and other related products. The Company aligns its operations into four reportable business segments: Engine, which manufactures and markets a range of diesel and natural gas-powered engines under the Cummins brand name, for customers across the heavy-and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, agricultural and governmental equipment markets; Distribution, which services and distributes the Company’s products and, such as parts and filtration, power generation, engines; Components, which supplies a range of products, including after treatment systems, turbochargers, filtration products and fuel systems; and Power Generation, which manufactures and distributes power generation systems, components and services for power solutions and mobile power solutions.

Key Partners

Cummins works closely with a network of partner companies to ensure that it provides and efficient and effective service to its customers. These partners include:

  • Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of raw materials and tools that are utilised across the Company’s manufacturing operations, as well as suppliers of services and technologies that are utilised more broadly across the entire enterprise;
  • Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising distributors and sales agents that support and extend the reach of the Company’s in-house sales and marketing organisations;
  • Joint Venture Partners, comprising various manufacturing and distribution companies within the automotive sector, with which the Company provides products and services on a joint basis through mutually owned entities; and
  • Community and Social Partners, comprising various non-profits and charitable organisations, with which the Company collaborates on community, social, and sustainability projects around the world.

Cummins has a number of partnerships in place. This includes a global corporate responsibility partnership with Komatsu, and a distribution deal with BIA Group.

Key Resources

Cummins’s key resources are its intellectual properties and technologies, its raw materials and supply chain, its manufacturing facilities, its sales and distribution infrastructure, its online platforms, its IT and communications infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Cummins owns and control a significant number of patents and trademarks that relate directly to its portfolio of products. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified a number of patent applications filed in the name of Cummins including applications entitled ‘Method and algorithm for diagnosing an NH3 sensor in an SCR system using measurements from two channels of the sensor’, ‘Optimization-based controls for diesel engine air-handling systems’ and ‘Cylinder head for internal combustion engine’.

Cummins also owns a number of physical properties that are key to the Company’s operations, most notably its network of manufacturing facilities, comprising 32 core facilities across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Africa.

Cost Structure

Cummins incurs costs in relation to the development of its designs and technologies, the procurement of supplies and materials, the operation of its manufacturing facilities, the operation of its sales and distribution infrastructure, the maintenance of its online platforms and of its IT and communications infrastructure, the implementation of marketing and advertising campaign, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 Cummins records total cost of sales for the year of $14.16 billion. The Company’s selling, general, and administrative costs totaled $2.09 billion, while its research and development expenses, net of contract reimbursements, totaled $718 million.

Revenue Streams

Cummins generates revenue through the manufacture and sale of various automotive and power generation products. In 2015 the Company generated annual revenue of $19.11 billion, down slightly on the $19.22 billion recorded by the Company in 2014. The majority of the Company’s revenue was attributed to its Engine segment, which alone generated revenue for the year totalling $10.45 billion. This was followed by the Distribution segment with $6.23 billion, and the Component segment with $5.17 billion.

Our team

Thomas Linebarger,
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

info: Thomas Linebarger (“Linebarger”) has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Cummins since 2011. He oversees the overall strategic direction of the Company. Linebarger has been with Cummins since 1993. He has worked his way through the Company’s ranks to his current positions, holding a range of roles at the Company in the process. This includes spells as President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, President of Power Generation Business, Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President of Supply Chain Management. Prior to joining Cummins, Linebarger was an investment analyst and investment manager at Prudential Investment Corporation, working in both its Singapore and Hong Kong offices.

Pat Ward,
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

info: Pat Ward (“Ward”) has served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Cummins since 2008. He is responsible for the Company’s accounting, treasury, tax, internal audit, investor relations, and business analysis and planning functions. Ward is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and serves on the Board of Directors at the Heritage Fund - The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. Ward has been with Cummins for almost the entirety of his career, joining the Company in in 1987. He has held numerous positions at the Company, including senior leaderships positions such as Vice President of Engine Business Controller. Prior to joining Cummins, Ward served as a management accountant for the British Rail Property Board.

Rich Freeland,
President and Chief Operating Officer

info: Rich Freeland serves as President and Chief Operating Officer at Cummins, overseeing the Company’s daily operations and ensuring that its meets its various financial, customer and operating commitments. He is also a director of the National Association of Manufacturers, Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, the Columbus Heritage Fund and the Bartholomew County United Way. Freeland is a long-serving Cummins employee, having first joined the Company in 1979 at the Cummins Parts Distribution Centre in Columbus. He has gone on to hold numerous positions at the Company, including executive functions such as President of Distribution Business and President of Components, and President of the Engine Business.