Otto Breitschwerdt

Otto Breitschwerdt is a vice president of Caterpillar Inc. with responsibility for the Building Construction Products Division. In this role he provides global leadership over Caterpillar’s line of small, versatile construction machines and work tools. The Building Construction Products Division’s (BCP) footprint spans 9 countries today with more than 8,000 employees.

Breitschwerdt joined Caterpillar in 1990 and has served in a variety of positions in sales, marketing, operations, engineering and supply chain. Prior to being appointed vice president, he was a general manager in BCP with global responsibility for the manufacturing, design and marketing of the small wheel loader, compact wheel loader, compact track loader and skid steer loader product families. Before that, Breitschwerdt spent time in a variety of other assignments in the U.S. and Brazil, including eastern U.S. region manager, BCP engineering and supply chain director and Brazil district manager. He also spent three years as plant manager for the Campo Largo facility in Brazil, where he managed the start-up of the facility, from construction to full production of small wheel loaders and backhoe loaders.

Breitschwerdt earned a degree in agricultural engineering from the University of São Paulo in Brazil and is also a graduate of Caterpillar’s Digging Deep” program offered by Stanford University. He has served as board member of the Association of Equipment Distributors Foundation and the American Chamber of Commerce. Breitschwerdt is also certified as an executive coach through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC) and certified in emotional intelligence through Multi-Health Systems Inc.