Caterpillar opens doors at EST&S

My tour guide was Stephen Butler, a 30-year Cat veteran who specializes in fuel systems and thus has interacted with almost all the specialized test cells. Besides intimate knowledge of numerous test and measurement processes, Butler had built enduring relationships with co-workers such as Ron Anderson, another veteran engineer, who accompanied us and provided additional practical commentary on several test systems.

We spent time discussing calibration and instrumentation systems, simulation software, inspection tools, metrology methods, and technology innovation—all as we walked around the facility's maze of nearly 100 specialized test cells and watched engineers and technicians perform diagnostics on engines from 85 to 9000 hp.

To satisfy stringent internal rules that are beyond the scope of some commercial, off-the-shelf test equipment, Caterpillar engineers routinely "invent" test and measurement tools, systems, and processes. Engineers from the simulation wing of Cat's facility have developed software that mimics subsystems within trucks. The tool analyzes the mechanical, electronics/electrical, thermodynamic, and hydraulic systems on a vehicle. Other software characterizes the dynamic behavior of shifting loads on trucks as the vehicles maneuver through an obstacle course. Individual test cells contain Ethernet connections that feed test results back to a central nerve center hub of office cubes where personnel parse the data.

The EST&S operation has a clear mandate to operate as a revenue-generation facility. As such, its test bays are filled with all manner of trucks, recreational vehicles, military ground vehicles, construction machinery, cranes, and other industrial equipment from many major vehicle OEMs. Rick Alford, EST&S director, explained that "Cat's testing capabilities are a unique resource now available to engine manufacturers, OEMs, and component suppliers on a completely confidential basis. We have taken steps to ensure that everything learned at EST&S stays here."

EST&S typifies one of Cat's core competencies that the company has decided to offer for sale to external markets. By offering patented test technologies as a service outside its core markets, Cat further justifies the cost of internal R&D efforts. Cat test programs are already being devised for several suppliers that build blocks, crankshafts, pistons, rings, cylinder liners, and fuel systems.