Caterpillar and Trimble Expand Solutions and Service Offerings for Global Construction Customers

PEORIA, Ill. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of their ongoing commitment to transforming the way contractors view job site productivity and the way they manage their businesses, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), the world's leading supplier of construction equipment, and Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), a global leader in technology solutions, today announced new agreements that will bring complete, technology-enabled construction jobsite solutions to the market.

Building on a partnership that spans nearly 20 years, the new agreements enhance both companies' efforts to better serve global customers from project design through completion, with critical technologies and services focused on fleet management and site productivity across a contractor's entire equipment fleet, regardless of brand.

"Caterpillar has worked with Trimble since 1996 to optimize site productivity through a revolutionary suite of grade control solutions, differentiated by industry-leading machine integration straight out of our manufacturing plants, mixed fleets' aftermarket systems and through our world-class distribution network," said Hans Haefeli, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Advanced Components and Systems Division.

Since 2008, Caterpillar and Trimble have expanded their collaboration to bring both fleet management and site productivity solutions to the customer's office and jobsite through the VisionLink® suite of applications. With today's new agreements, the companies are further investing in their combined commitment to develop these products, expand the range of productivity applications and services, and bring a comprehensive unified fleet solution to the contractor. For Caterpillar, the strategic partnership with Trimble provides a site level, unified fleet focus to the Cat® Connect portfolio of products and services. Cat Connect leverages connectivity to more than 250,000 Cat machines globally. These machines can be monitored by customers to improve their fuel consumption, maintenance, productivity and overall fleet availability.

The latest agreements will strengthen Caterpillar's already world-class distribution capability and enhance collaboration with Trimble's SITECH® Technology Dealers, the only global distribution network dedicated to providing a comprehensive construction technology portfolio to the heavy and civil contractor.

"The agreements demonstrate both companies' commitment to providing a brand agnostic information solution to contractors with mixed equipment fleets," said Bryn Fosburgh, vice president responsible for Trimble's construction technology divisions. "This unified fleet solution is enabled by VisionLink, which integrates a wide range of site and machine information elements to give customers a holistic view of their site. It's a powerful tool that unlocks new levels of productivity and improves operation efficiency."

Both companies look forward to building upon their successful agreements and continuing to deliver proven mixed fleet machine monitoring from the four corners of the jobsite to the four corners of the world for global fleet decisions made in real time.

About Caterpillar:

For more than 85 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent.  With 2012 sales and revenues of $65.875 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.  The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services and Progress Rail Services.  More information is available at: http://www.caterpillar.com.

About Trimble:

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.  For more information, visit:  www.trimble.com.

Caterpillar Inc. Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements.  All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries and markets we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity or component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products, or limited availability of raw materials and component products, including steel; (iv) our and our customers', dealers' and suppliers' ability to access and manage liquidity; (v) political and economic risks and instability, including national or international conflicts and civil unrest; (vi) our and Cat Financial's ability to: maintain credit ratings, avoid material increases in borrowing costs, and access capital markets; (vii) the financial condition and credit worthiness of Cat Financial's customers; (viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity; (ix) changes in financial services regulation; (x) inability to realize expected benefits from acquisitions, including ERA Mining Machinery Limited, and divestitures, including the divestiture of the Bucyrus International, Inc. distribution business to our independent dealers; (xi) international trade and investment policies; (xii) market acceptance of our products and services; (xiii) changes in the competitive environment, including market share, pricing and geographic and product mix of sales; (xiv) successful implementation of capacity expansion projects, cost reduction initiatives and efficiency or productivity initiatives, including the Caterpillar Production System; (xv) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers or original equipment manufacturers; (xvi) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xvii) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xviii) additional tax expense or exposure; (xix) currency fluctuations; (xx) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxi) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxii) union disputes or other labor matters; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxiv) compliance requirements imposed if carbon emissions legislation and/or regulations are adopted; (xxv) changes in accounting standards; (xxvi) failure or breach of information technology security; (xxvii) adverse effects of natural disasters; and (xxviii) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A.  Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2013 for the year ended December 31, 2012.  This filing is available on our website at www.caterpillar.com/secfilings.  

Trimble Forward-Looking Statements
Trimble's actual results may differ materially from those described in this press release.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: realizing the anticipated benefits from the new agreements between Caterpillar and Trimble; the ability of the parties to successfully invest in, develop and expand the range of productivity applications and services, and bring a comprehensive unified fleet solution to the contractor; the timing around the launch and availability of new fleet management and site productivity solutions; market acceptance of such solutions; and the ability of the parties to strengthen distribution capability and enhance collaboration with SITECH Technology Dealers.  More information about potential factors which could affect Trimble's business and financial results is set forth in reports filed with the SEC, including Trimble's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Trimble as of the date hereof, and Trimble assumes no obligation to update such statements.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.