Greg Mumford, Caterpillar’s head of sales, service and marketing for the ANZP region, shares his thoughts on how the industry and Caterpillar are positioned for 2025.
While change may take time within the quarrying industry, it certainly never stands still.
Caterpillar is right amongst this change as one of the most recognisable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for Australia’s heavy industries. Its excavators and wheeled loaders are popular in Australia’s heavy industries, but they have constantly had to evolve as customer demands have changed.
The emergence of new technology and a stringent focus on safety within the sector have, in their ways, influenced the equipment and machines that are a key part of the quarry.
Few industry figures are as exposed to these changes in the Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific region as Greg Mumford, who heads up Caterpillar’s sales, service, and marketing in the area.
According to Mumford, technology-driven machinery features have been among the most consistent requests from Caterpillar’s customer base in recent years.
“A trend that has developed over several years that is accelerating is the demand for a stronger link with our quarry customers digitally. Increasingly, customers have this relationship with Caterpillar through digital platforms. A very good example of that is the development of our VisionLink platform,” he told Quarry.
“Through this platform we greatly expand our relationship by providing services such as maintenance planning, reviewing productivity of machines and identifying areas to improve, remotely diagnosing machine problems, uploading new software on machines and many other features. We will continue to develop our support in this area because of this trend.”
Caterpillar has been honing its VisionLink offering to the quarry market over the past couple of years to ensure it meets the needs of quarry managers and operators.
The cloud-based system is designed to help improve productivity by allowing quarry managers and operators to see critical information in one place. By comparing machine data, including production levels, fuel burn, and idle time, quarry managers can make informed decisions to support their businesses.
From businesses operating multiple quarries or larger fleets to smaller businesses, they can drill into this data while getting an accurate high-level overview of their operation.
VisionLink goes beyond machine analytics and can be used for various tasks, including building competitive bids and assessing projects. Using real-time data, project managers and administrators can input valuable data into their daily tasks to make more informed judgements.
But technology extends beyond just a productivity tool within the quarrying industry, as quarries work with more stringent expectations around safety in recent years. OEMs are designing technology-driven features to help enhance safety around the quarry.
“The industry will continue to transform to ensure it is increasing productivity, so that it offsets the impacts of inflation,” Mumford said.
“The industry will continue to search for and implement new technologies that increase productivity, train its people so they have the necessary skills and modify operations to get those productivity gains.”
Caterpillar has invested a lot of research and development into its Cat Smart Camera System for quarries to enhance safety.
“Keeping workers safe is the biggest challenge. In most industries, ensuring workers return home safely every day is the most important issue, and it is no different in the quarry industry,” Mumford said.
“Caterpillar understands how important safety is for quarry customers, which is particularly challenging when taking into consideration the increase in productivity, owning and operating costs and onboarding new people into the industry.
“We are creating safer quarry operations through new technology like our new Cat smart camera system which detects when a person is behind a moving machine and alerts the operator to protect workers on the ground.”
Technology is also being employed by OEMs like Caterpillar to help tackle one of the industry’s emerging pain points: attracting new workers.
“Many quarry customers that we talk to have difficulty attracting and keeping people in our industry. I think that the new world class machines we are providing customers are giving operators a much better experience than in the years past,” he said.
“A good example of that is our full range of Next Generation Medium Wheel Loaders. The new operator cab is ergonomically designed and has new technology such as our new Cat Payload Assist system to help operators work productively and in comfort.
“We are honoured to be part of such an important industry and customers that provide such important products for Australia’s development and growth. We invest in our products and services so that we can better serve it in 2025 and beyond.” •
For more information, visit cat.com
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