Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/816123
May 2017 | EquipmentWorld.com 12 reporter | staff report future proof, he says. Cat says it chose to keep the nomenclature as sim- ple as possible on the product, which is why the Build Number won't be on the side of the machine. In the chart below, Equipment World took the liber- ty of showing how certain popular current machines' names would appear and be designated in internal and external communications under the new system. To be clear, this is for explanation only, and these ex- ample model numbers will not be changing to the new system until their next generational updates. Major updates – those that would have merited a letter change in the past – will be noted by a Build Number that represents the next generation (D is 04, E is 05, F is 06, etc.). Minor updates will be indicated by an additional letter (first minor update: A; second minor update: B, etc.). As an example of how a minor update would appear under the new system, the cur- rent Cat 420F 2 backhoe would be called the Cat 420 (Build 06A). The change will occur on all future Cat product generations, including attachments. The exception will be engines and generators, which have never used the letter nomenclature. Letters, however, will remain part of Caterpillar dozer models (see following section). In addition, Cat will trim some of the modifiers it uses, especially on excavators, which Cat says cur- rently have a confusingly large number of modifiers in use. The "L" designation for long undercarriage, for example, will no longer be used, neither will CR for compact radius nor RR for reduced radius. "These product configurations will still be available, they just won't be indicated on the side of the machine," Stem- bridge says. Dozers the exception On the dozer side, Cat is already tapped out on what it considers useable letters. "We reached the T Series for high-drive dozers in 2006," says Stembridge. But Cat's dozer letter nomenclature is well established (primarily by horsepower and weight, with the K Se- ries designed for finish grading, the N Series offering a balance of grading and production, and the T Series designed for heavy production). In addition, its popu- lar D6 size comes in K, N and T versions. Because of this, dozers will be the exception to the new no-letter system. Instead of a generational indicator, however, letters on dozers will now identify the type of dozer. A D6K dozer, for example, will be a D6K dozer from now on. The Build Number will again be used to distinguish successive dozer generations. That means the next generation D6K will be designated D6K (Build 12) in internal and external communication, which indicates that it is the 12th generation of the D6K. (Under the former system, it would have been called a D6L.) What won't change You'll still see what Cat calls "value segment identifier" letters on models, much like the automotive industry uses letters to differentiate between trims of the same car model. This means, for example, the XE on the 336 XE will remain, as will the GC, such as on the 950 GC wheel loader. Other modifiers, such as "LGP" for low ground pressure dozers, will remain, in addition to special application designators, such as "Aggregate Handler" on wheel loaders directed toward the ag- gregates industry. "We expect it to take about five years to fully inte- grate the new nomenclature throughout all of Cater- pillar's products," Stembridge says. "The key message is that we are doing this so that long-term we have a system to indicate each machine's generational changes for years to come." Current model designation How a genera- tional change would have been indicated under the for- mer system On the machine: How it will appear under the new system In internal/ external com- munications: How it will be referenced under the new system Cat 336F L excavator Cat 336G L Cat 336 Cat 336 (Build 07) Cat 259D compact track loader Cat 259E Cat 259 Cat 259 (Build 05) Cat 305E 2 CR compact excavator Cat 305F Cat 305 Cat 305 (Build 06) Cat 950M wheel loader Cat 950N Cat 950 Cat 950 (Build 14) Cat 420F 2 backhoe Cat 420G Cat 420 Cat 420 (Build 07)