Over eighty participants attended, including customers from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China and Russia, with twenty-three countries represented. The presentation included a demonstration of traditional Caterpillar equipment including dozers, excavators and graders. The featured equipment was the new T-Series purpose-built pipelayers- the 583T and the 587T plus the 572RII and the 561N, along with some allied products PLM distributes exclusively.
Guests were introduced to Caterpillar design engineers from the Peoria factory and pipelayer marketing staff as well as representatives from Cat Financial. Presentations were made by CGP, PLM and the Caterpillar EAME (Europe Africa Middle East) District Office. CGP General Manager Dan Macholan outlined Caterpillar’s commitment to the pipeline industry, the new pipelayer distribution system and the new model pipelayer details. PLM President Mel Ternan explained the global solutions concept that an industry-specific dealership dedicated to the pipeline industry can provide. EAME Pipeline Manager Marco Jannuzzi detailed the Caterpillar innovations introduced over the past year including environmental, technical and ergonomic enhancements.
The presentations were followed by the pipeline demonstration. All current model pipelayers – the 561N, 572RII, 583T and 587T – were demonstrated as well as the major products used by the pipeline industry, including the 330D, 345CL and D8T. Other complementary machines were demonstrated including a pipelayer conversion package for a D6N, a hydraulic conversion kit (to update mechanical drawworks of older model pipelayers), and a pin on pipeline welding attachment – all engineered and constructed by the Caterpillar partner Vanguard Equipment and available exclusively from PLM. Also on hand for the demonstration was a Lift Technologies vacuum pipe handling machine also distributed by PLM.
Customers were welcomed to operate the demo equipment and given full access to operators and engineers to answer any questions on the units. All demo equipment was sold to customers either before or during the presentation, which highlighted the success of the first Pipeline Industry Day.