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Events are important to Caterpillar. It gives us an opportunity to meet face-to-face with customers, hear about the power issues that keep you up at night, and then take that feedback to develop the next generation of advanced power solutions.
Recently we hosted a meeting in Indianapolis and Lafayette, Indiana for over 350 consulting-specifying engineers, consultants and end users. The first day kicked off with an overview of our Electric Power Division, followed by a Q&A on our new 4MW Cat® C175-20 diesel generator set. The day progressed with a series of seminars, giving guests the opportunity to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) within their field of specialization.
Sessions included:
- Understanding Generator Set Ratings
- Gas vs. Diesel Generator Sets: Performance Cost and Application Differences
- UPS Selection (UPS as a Source), Sizing, Topology, Energy Storage and Genset Considerations with UPS (UPS as a Load)
- Product Support, Preventative Maintenance and Extended Coverage
- U.S. EPA Tier 4 Update
We arranged a product fair that showcased generator sets, flywheel and double conversion UPS, ATS, Switchgear, service and financing. Attendees were given a behind-the-scenes look at our operations through a 1-1/2 hour tour of our 1.3 million square-foot engine plant and nearby generator set endurance center.
What did we learn?
While we had hundreds of conversations, some topics came up regularly. A few are shared below:
- We continue to get feedback that supports our systems strategy. Having a single vendor that can talk to the entire power quality solution (e.g. how UPS and generator sets interact in a design) is critical.
- Tier 4 emissions regulations education continues to be important. There are ongoing changes and customers/consultants are looking to their manufacturers for information to help them meet federal and local compliance.
What more can you tell us?
- Have you ever attended a Caterpillar or Cat Dealer event? If so, what did you like about it or alternatively, what would you change?
- If you have never attended an event, would you be interested in future meetings, product introductions or tours? Your time is extremely valuable, and an out-of-town visit to a power solutions supplier can take a huge chunk out of your workweek. What could we do to make your visit worthwhile?
- Are the aforementioned topics of interest (Generator Set Ratings, Gas vs. Diesel, UPS, Product Support, Tier 4) or would you rather learn about different topics? What technical learning would help you or your team with the day-to-day?
Please post your thoughts below.
