Caterpillar‘s presence at ConExpo-Con/Agg couldn’t be missed, covering four exhibit areas over 60,000 sq. ft. at the Las Vegas Convention Center earlier this year. More than 40 Cat machines were on display at the trade show, and more than a dozen Cat machines made their North America show debut in Las Vegas, the company says.
Considering the sheer number of machines Cat planned to unveil at the show, Cat invited the press, including PP&E, to learn more about its rollouts at a pre-ConExpo event March 1 at its Tinaja Hills Demonstration & Learning Center in Green Valley, Ariz.
One rollout Caterpillar discussed at length in Arizona is Cat Connect, a framework for construction technologies and services that’s designed to help customers monitor, manage and enhance operations, as well as gain more control of jobsites. Cat Connect uses data from technology-equipped machines to give operators more information on equipment and their performance than ever before, Cat says.
According to Cat, the use of Cat Connect technologies only requires the addition of software, and in some instances, easily installed sensors or electronic components.
“Cat Connect is found in hydraulics and engine technology to help operators be more efficient,” says Brian Stellbrink, a Cat product application specialist for hydraulic excavators.
John Thomas, a marketing and strategy manager for Cat’s technology and solutions group, says one option is to start small with Cat Connect and slowly build in additional technologies as fleet and service managers adapt to a world of increased data management.
“Cat Connect customers can start very simply by connecting machines and getting basic machine location, utilization and fuel information,” he says. “Or they can jump into the deep end and have very rich productivity information, including load and cycle counting, payload reporting and 3D as-built mapping. We typically recommend customers start slowly. There is a lot of power in the information we can collect off machines and customer sites, but if a customer isn’t prepared to do something with this information, then the value it provides will not be as great.”
Thomas adds that operators will realize the technology’s greatest benefits if they are prepared to change the way they work and their processes.
“That is easiest to do a little at a time,” he says.
Other debuts
One product line in which Cat Connect is found is the new F Series excavators. According to Cat, the F Series builds on its E Series technology that debuted in 2011. Cat’s 390F, 336F, 335F and 323F excavators are Tier 4 Final compliant, Stellbrink says, and Cat Connect for this series features grade, payload and link technologies.
The 335F is designed to do heavy-duty work in confined areas, Stellbrink adds. Cat says the 335F delivers a 16 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with the 328D model it replaces. The excavator is equipped with 33-in. track shoes, and it limits over-the-side tail swing to 7 in.
The 323F, meanwhile, has construction and demolition market applicability, delivering a 9 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with the E Series machine it’s replacing, the company says.
Also new from Cat are compact wheel loaders. Cat’s K Series replaces the company’s G Series. Goals the company sought to achieve in developing the K Series were to improve emissions, visibility and serviceability. Cat, which defines “compact” as 100 hp or less, anticipates making the first deliveries of the new 910K and 914K wheel loaders this summer.
Both the 910K and 914K feature Cat’s Z-bar linkage and 92-net-hp engines that are Tier 4 Interim compliant.
Cat demonstrated an MH3037 material handler during the pre-ConExpo event, as well. The material handler is in the greater-than-25-ton size class. It has an operating weight of 82,900 lbs., and a Cat ACERT C7 engine featuring an electronically controlled, mechanically actuated, unit-injector fuel system powers the machine. The MH3037 configuration is rated at 225 hp.