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How Caterpillar’s onboard technology helps to create a safer job site
By caterpillar | Posted: January 10, 2024
Ease of Use technology for Cat® mini excavators has been developed to help you manage a safer job site, minimise costs and increase your team’s productivity. Here you can find out how Ease of Use keeps your workers safe on the ground, avoids equipment damage and reduces repair costs.
What is Ease-of-Use and how can it improve workforce safety?
The Ease of Use system is designed for the Cat Next Generation mini excavators 306CR, 308CR and 309CR. This technology-based solution helps our customers’ teams reduce their costs and work more safely. We’ve developed two packages: E-Fence and Indicate.
Supporting safer job sites with E-Fence technology
E-Fences are pre-set boundaries used to limit the motion of the machinery during a job. E-Fence is set by the operator using the Cat advanced touchscreen monitor inside the cab. Operators can select one of the following fences: swing, reach wall, ceiling, and floor. Here are some examples of situations where this technology can contribute to improving safety on the job site:
Swing – used when working next to a roadway to ensure the machine doesn’t swing out into traffic or cause an accident.
Reach wall – protects structures and buildings in front of the excavator by setting a boundary in the front of the machine.
Ceiling ⎼ sets a limit to the height that any part of the machine will reach, to avoid damaging overhead power lines, tree limbs, low ceilings and even bridges.
Floor ⎼ used to avoid hitting pipes and ground cables and causing damage to drainage systems.
“E-Fence will save your company money – with less guys on the ground, there’ll be less of you doing the job around the machine. Compared to other systems, it just gets easier to use – very good,” said Dave Buckle, Ridgewood Contracts Ltd .
Supporting safety with the Ease of Use Indicate package
Indicate enables operators to set a target depth. Using the touch screen monitor in the cab, the operator can set a digging depth, and either leave that depth as a flat grade, or program a slope towards or away from the machine. Throughout the pass, the machine will give visible and audible feedback as to the position of the bucket against the target depth or slope. This reduces the need for another worker on the ground to check the grade.
“With the grade control I can set my grades in my hub and I can dig away without a man behind the machinery with a grade rod,” said Brian Norge Jr, Benmoor Construction .
To support our customers further, both the E-Fence and Indicate systems come with additional features.
Swing assist: stops the machine swing at a set point so it’s easier for machine operators to return to the trench each time.
Bucket assist: retains the angle of the bucket at its last setting.
Again, these features have not only been developed to increase our customers’ productivity but also to improve site safety, avoiding accidental damage and unexpected costs.
Safer systems designed to get the job done
Cat Ease of Use is available on the Caterpillar 306CR, 308CR and 309CR Swing boom models to make your job sites safer and more efficient. Contact your nearest Cat dealer today to discuss your team’s requirements.
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