Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Bahar, dealers for Caterpillar, the world’s foremost manufacturer of machinery and engines for a wide variety of applications, recently launched two new products and held its annual event, ‘Operators’ Challenge,’ which tests the skills of operators of excavators.

The product launch for the new Cat H-Series Wheel Loaders and D-Series mid-size hydraulic excavators received a good response, according to the company.
Speaking about the new products, Sudhir Tripathi, Al Bahar’s material handling industry manager, said the new H-Series wheel loaders provided better features and benefits to end users. It offered better productivity and ease of serviceability.
The D Series excavators also offered a lot of advantages. Besides the new look, following the change in design, it presented better cycle times, reduced emission, produced more power and five per cent more lighting capacities, Tripathi said, adding that improved features offered ease of operation.
“Both the products were well received at the ‘Operators’ Challenge’ event. We also displayed other products,” he said.  “More than 75-80 per cent of companies involved with the construction sector are already our clients. Such an event gives them a chance to evaluate other machines and help make decisions regarding future purchases.”
Tripathi said the company, like the whole industry, was doing very well. “The market is booming. Overall the sales figures have doubled over the last five years,” he said.
Elaborating on the company’s products and the challenges it faced, Tripathy said: “The Cat product line is growing. The most popular product in terms of sales is the skid steer loader, followed by loaders, wheel loaders, dump trucks, excavators, motor graders and truck-type tractors. Our models are continuously upgraded.
“A major challenge facing the dealers today is the delivery time, which has gone up to 12-14 months due to construction activity. We have to predict demand and also options people would prefer months in advance. Today the best delivery time is six months.
“The only thing holding us back today is that factories cannot produce more. Caterpillar is a very strong brand and Al-Bahar a very strong dealer. Only when people cannot buy Cat they go to others.”
 Tripathi said a major problem facing the industry today was a shortage of manpower. “Our workshop that employed 80 productive mechanics two years ago today has 161 mechanics. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right people so in order to keep up the level of services and increasing demand for qualified people, Al Bahar set up its own training centre two years ago.”
The centre is fully equipped and has full-time instructors. It not only provides training to its own people but also for customers.
“We had invested a lot in the training centre and it has paid off,” says Ashfaque Azad, area manager, UAE.  “We also have a Caterpillar training centre in Malaga, Spain, where almost every month we have some people going there for some kind of training or the other. It could be training in selling skills or product knowledge or training for mechanics and engineers.”
Operators’ Challenge was organised to recognise the work of the unsung heroes of the construction boom, said Tripathi.
The event, held at the Al Bahar facility in Sharjah, tested the skills of the operators and also their dexterity in breaking eggs or glasses with 22-tonne excavators.
One of the challenges was to break eggs placed on top of traffic cones using the teeth of the huge bucket excavators. The trick was to do it without touching the cones. To make it even more difficult, the operators had to swing the boom 360 degrees each time and then break the eggs placed on randomly numbered cones.
They also had to knock off drinking glasses placed on randomly placed pots, again using the teeth of the buckets, without breaking the glasses.
The event has grown in popularity with many construction companies sending their best men to lift the competition trophy.
 “The operators have to undergo rigorous training to handle the machines, as some of them have to go on the road from one construction site to another. They also have to learn the safety aspects. The event also showcased the new improved machines to construction companies,” says Tripathi.