Caterpillar’s support of the pipeline industry goes back decades. Construction machinery used on pipeline jobsites include not only pipelayers, but also excavators, bulldozers, graders, and a variety of other earthmoving machines. The appearance of these machines has changed little over the years, but their functionality has evolved greatly in recent years. Although machines do look similar, and perform similar operations to their ancestors of the 40’s and 50’s, they are actually very different, under their skin.
We will examine how some of the machines most commonly used on pipeline jobsites have benefited from recent technologies such as electronics, laser technology, GPS systems. Machinery efficiency has greatly improved thanks to these new technologies. Environmental friendliness has also made quantum leaps, in particular for engine emissions, which have been reduced by up to 98%. All these improvements are the result of a different approach to product development, which has efficiency improvements and energy conservation as primary objectives.

We will then explore how new technologies have impacted the jobsites, increasing their productivity and efficiency. Machine Control and Guidance systems now allow jobsite efficiencies improvements, which were unthinkable of only a few years ago.
We will also look at how technology has impacted on people, machine operators, mechanics, technicians, to improve their safety and efficiency on the job. Thanks to technology such as virtual simulations, training has become easier and more effective.
Finally we will look at how all these technologies are taken from the virtual world into the real world, and solutions are delivered right into the jobsite more timely and efficiently. Mechanics can be dispatched on jobsites quicker and more efficiently, saving time and money for contractors.

All of the above was quite unthinkable of, just a few decades or years ago. It is reality now, and customers across the world are starting to benefit from it.