Caterpillar and Trimble Form New Joint Venture

Cat’s got its claws in everything. When the company’s not releasing a new line of compact track loaders or buying companies like Lovat in the tunneling industry, Caterpillar is making joint ventures with the likes of Trimble — a top designer of positioning technologies such as GPS, lasers, optics and other software.

The new company, VirtualSite Solutions, will integrate the expertise of both parent companies in the areas of product design and software development to transform the way contractors manage their businesses.

“Caterpillar products already feature a high level of advanced technology, which enhances customer productivity and sustains our environment,” said Gwenne Henricks, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Electronics and Connected Worksite Division. “With an increasing need to improve customer jobsite productivity, reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs while maximizing equipment health and utilization, there has never been a better time to integrate machine monitoring with site management to create a market-leading connected worksite for our customers.”

The joint venture will be located in Westminster, Colo., home of Trimble’s Engineering and Construction product development and marketing organization. An office will also be established in Peoria, Ill., where the joint venture staff will work closely with Caterpillar’s Electronics and Connected Worksite Division, which has enterprise responsibility for product-related hardware and software technology and Caterpillar’s global electronics strategy. The joint venture will initially focus on applications for road construction, paving, heavy construction and quarry/aggregates worksites.

“These new relationships will accelerate the introduction of solutions that will enable contractors to better manage the worksite and all the machines in their fleet,” said Bryn Fosburgh, Trimble vice president with responsibility for Trimble’s Connected Site. “The continued convergence of positioning, wireless and information technologies on the worksite create a data rich environment that provides maintenance, production and site-related intelligence to allow organizations to make decisions in real time.”