Arctic Cat Inc.: 2023 Manufacturing Excellence Awards
Arctic Cat vice president of operations and site leader Dan Johnson acknowledges that his company kept itself a bit under the radar for a few years. That changed this past fall, when the company released details of its new Catalyst snowmobile, which will launch this coming fall 2023 with a 2024 model.
“The Catalyst is a new platform,” Johnson says. “Over time, it will replace what we have currently.” And it’s already attracting industry buzz.
What makes the Catalyst so distinctive is its lightweight design. “We centralized the heaviest components and consolidated them,” Johnson says. The lighter weight—a 10% reduction compared to previous Arctic Cat models—helps boost maneuverability. And fewer parts simplifies sourcing and lowers production costs.
“The Catalyst really was designed for manufacturability,” Johnson says. “We designed it around the competencies that we already have within our facility. But we’ve refined and added to our competencies,” including robotics welding and a fully automated paint line system. The Catalyst’s designers also “optimized multiple systems into one,” Johnson says. Case in point: a belt guard for the transmission system connected to the engine mounting, along with structures for other components to mount to. These elements integrate into one piece what had been made up of multiple pieces, he says.
Catalyst designers also lowered the vehicle’s center of gravity by dropping the engine, and all the parts that attach to the engine, into the chassis. This helps the rider become “more at one” with the machine.
The new Catalyst will feature a 600cc engine. In 2021, Arctic Cat launched an “all-new” ATV, which uses a newly designed four-stroke 600cc engine built at Arctic Cat’s engine plant in St. Cloud. Other new ATV models will be launched this year.
“We’ve invested a lot of money in new product development in the last three years,” Johnson says—which also has meant significant investment in Arctic Cat’s manufacturing capabilities.
Locations: Thief River Falls and St. Cloud
Employees: 850
Specialty: Snowmobiles and ATVs
