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

  • Futureproofing UK construction equipment resilience
    May 5, 2021
    Rob Oliver is the longstanding CEO of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the UK trade association for the UK construction equipment industry. Guy Woodford recently caught up with him to discuss the industry’s health and the key issues facing the CEA and its members in 2021 and beyond.
    Read More
  • Caterpillar’s machine autonomy acquistion
    June 18, 2020
    Caterpillar has made a key acquisition for machine autonomy technology.
    Read More
  • Caterpillar eyes better performance in 2015 amid stormy weather
    May 13, 2015
    Caterpillar vice president Paolo Fellin sums up the past year for the global equipment manufacturer and looks at the increasing importance of telematics and machine control. David Arminas reports from Caterpillar’s Demonstration and Learning Centre in Malaga, southern Spain First the good news. Despite the difficulties, especially of the financial markets, 2014 was “a record year for a lot of things” for global heavy equipment maker Caterpillar.Now the bad news. Hang onto your seats because despite some
    Read More
  • Caterpillar’s senior executives outline the group’s drive for greater overall efficiency
    January 6, 2017
    Caterpillar senior executives Edward Rapp and David Bozeman have pinpointed “systems integration” as one of the equipment giant’s future targets. Speaking at Conexpo 2014 this week, Edward Rapp, Caterpillar group president said that the introduction of Tier 4 Final engine technology has been a landmark moment for Caterpillar but added that emissions systems are not the answer in themselves to improved performance. “The secret sauce is not the Tier 4, it’s the systems integration” said Rapp.
    Read More

Highlighted Content