Crain’s Focuses on Caterpillar’s Data Strategy, Mentions Research Park Lab

Categories : Features, Research Park
Posted on: July 6, 2015
Caterpillar’s new focus on data-driven solutions for its products is making headlines.  
 
Writes Crain’s Chicago Business: “The big-data era requires a different focus. Rob Charter, a group president at Caterpillar, says the company wants to surround customers with a tech-savvy suite of products and services. It’s about moving beyond simply making machines, he adds.”
 
“‘Originally, when we built product, it was about the product,’ Charter says. ‘What we think about all the time these days—and you’ll see it more and more in people’s thinking—is, how do we make a customer successful? And if they’re successful and they rely on us, then we’re successful.'”
 
Caterpillar’s move to incorporate more big-data analytics into its business model could result in major gains for the company. Charter told Crain’s Chicago Business that Caterpillar could potentially see a 30 to 40 percent increase in productivity from utilizing analytics.