Page 48 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

IT Service Group manager. “Instead, they can fo- cus on what their customers need and spend their time working on their equipment.” One of the first things the new group did was build a backup library of all the technicians’ computers. “Now if someone’s computer breaks, we can re-image and replace it so their downtime is minutes instead of days.” They also created a basic template of the three software set-ups techs use across the com- pany—for Tractor, Power, Truck—to have on hand if a replacement is needed or a new tech comes on board.
Back in 2010, even before the new service group was formed, IT introduced a remote-access pro- gram. “Bomgar is an application we use to remote into people’s computers. They can be anywhere as long as they’re online,” says Diaz. “Anywhere. Any- time. Anybody in the company. This is one of the greatest remote-access programs I’ve seen in my life, and I’ve used many. It’s stable. It’s straight-for- ward and easy to use. And it’s paying off because it helps us take care of our customers and techni- cians.”
Another big win was a rethink of the quarterly SIS updates. SIS is Caterpillar’s digital reference bible of all the parts, blueprints, and schematics for every machine Cat makes. It’s a vital tool every Peterson technician relies on—daily—along with Caterpil- lar’s Electronic Technician software (ET). And it comes on twenty-three DVDs. In 2017, the IT Service Group changed the time-consuming up- date process by loading all that information onto external hard drives. “Now every couple of months when we come in for a safety meeting, there’s a box of external hard drives by the door,” says Harden. “They’re constantly updated with the latest soft- ware from Caterpillar. So you turn in your old one and grab a new one from the box.” Before, it took two to three hours to feed all twenty-three discs into a laptop. Now it takes twenty minutes or less.
“Having SIS on hard drives is especially important for field technicians out in remote areas with no internet access,” explains Diaz. “It saves time be- cause they don’t have to come back to the office or drive to a spot with a better internet connection. There’s a lot less to deal with. And they don’t have
Larry Miller/Medford shop technician
46 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG