Caterpillar’s focus on advanced technology for construction

Caterpillar has seen a drop in its turnover due to tough conditions in many of its key markets but chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman is bullish about the firm’s future. Technology is the focus for Caterpillar and Oberhelman said, “We’ve always been the leader in construction iron and now we’ll be the leader in smart iron too. We’ve been offering connectivity solutions for years and we now have the largest connected industrial fleet for the industries we serve. Every machine and even drones can share informat
April 11, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Caterpillar has not cut R&D spend, despite falling turnover
178 Caterpillar has seen a drop in its turnover due to tough conditions in many of its key markets but chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman is bullish about the firm’s future. Technology is the focus for Caterpillar and Oberhelman said, “We’ve always been the leader in construction iron and now we’ll be the leader in smart iron too. We’ve been offering connectivity solutions for years and we now have the largest connected industrial fleet for the industries we serve. Every machine and even drones can share information. We have 400,000 installed assets around the world and we have three million machines around the world. No firm has more connected machines than Cat.”

Rob Charter, Caterpillar’s group president customer & dealer support, commented, “We are in the middle of the next industrial revolution and Cat is leading the way. The technology can be factory-fitted or dealer-installed. We are using more technology to increase efficiency for customers right now.”

Fitted to an excavator used for fine grading this can increase efficiency and Charter added, “It can boost productivity up to 45%.” Meanwhile, when used on excavators and a dozer by a contractor in Italy, he said that this helped cut the time of the project from 19 months to just 15 months.

Oberhelman pointed out that, despite falling turnover, Caterpillar has not cut its spending on research and development. “In 2014, 2015 and 2016 we will maintain a $2 billion per year investment in research and development.”

He said too that the company intends to retain its leadership position as the world’s largest manufacturer of off-highway machines.

The pace of technological development is rapid, with autonomous machines now being used in the mining sector, such as two fleets of Caterpillar haul trucks operating in Australia’s Pilbara region. However Charter said, “I think it’ll be a long time before we see an unmanned road or bridge construction project.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Caterpillar has a Vision that includes total project site overview
    April 5, 2016
    Caterpillar may be on its financial back foot, but a recent event showed the company has a vision far beyond this or the next financial year – David Arminas reports. Many construction machinery manufacturers have some data collection and analysis systems for their heavy equipment. For a good decade, manufacturers have been moving in this direction, first as retrofit packages on machines in the field and increasingly as standard on newer models. Caterpillar is no exception among manufacturers that are movin
    Read More
  • Cat sees reason for global equipment growth
    January 6, 2017
    Caterpillar ceo Doug Oberhelman is cautiously optimistic that recovery in the global equipment market will continue throughout 2014. Speaking at Conexpo, Mr Oberhelman said that the company was in the best possible position to make the most of steadily growing demand, with a host of improved machines and technologies on show. “The North American market is showing the best growth signs in March that we’ve seen for four years,” he said. “This year the market is stronger, housing is better and we see a very
    Read More
  • Cat sees reason for global equipment growth
    March 5, 2014
    Caterpillar ceo Doug Oberhelman is cautiously optimistic that recovery in the global equipment market will continue throughout 2014. Speaking at Conexpo, Mr Oberhelman said that the company was in the best possible position to make the most of steadily growing demand, with a host of improved machines and technologies on show. “The North American market is showing the best growth signs in March that we’ve seen for four years,” he said. “This year the market is stronger, housing is better and we see a very
    Read More
  • Interviews round-up
    March 19, 2012
    Investment in infrastructure is a key priority for the US. With a three-part growth strategy, business improving worldwide and improvements in order books, the Terex Group is looking to increase net sales to US$8 billion by 2013. Ron DeFeo, Terex’s chief operating officer, said the company has been seeing increased order and quotation activity across nearly all of its product categories.
    Read More

Highlighted Content