20 YEARS AND COUNTING

From the moment WesTrac became the official Cat® Dealer for NSW/ACT, the business hasn’t stopped growing. On Friday 9th April 2004, the agreements were signed and the doors opened. Within two months, they’d grown from a team of 50 to 500. Now, 20 years on, this partnership is still going strong as it looks to support customers through future challenges.

"One celebration isn’t enough to mark this milestone," says WesTrac Chief Executive Adrian Howard. “We celebrated with the team on the 9th of April, which was the actual anniversary,” he explains.

“It’s been an honour and privilege to be the Cat Dealer in NSW/ACT for the past 20 years. For WesTrac to be able to service, support, and sell Cat products is something we’re immensely proud of.”

Alongside a passion for tractors, trucks, and big equipment, close customer connections have driven WesTrac’s rapid growth. Starting out with hard rock mining customers, the team delivered more than 500 machines between 2006 and 2013. Then, Caterpillar’s acquisition of Bucyrus introduced more products to the portfolio and opened up even more opportunities in the mining and construction sectors. In total, the team has delivered more than 16,500 machines to their customers over the last 20 years.

Evolving their focus in line with what their customers needed has been key to this success, says Adrian. “As a dealer in partnership with Caterpillar, our focus has always been on our customers being successful because without that we wouldn’t be successful as a dealer,” he explains. “We were originally focused on the line of Cat equipment itself, as they’ve always produced great quality, high-performing machines.”

“In the civil earthmoving industry, for example, technology has been a game-changer. So being with a partner who can give machine guidance has really allowed us to maintain market leadership in that space. But in the last 20 years, this has shifted. Our business, customers, and equipment have evolved to be more focused on productivity and how we achieve good outcomes for our customers.”

A CUSTOMER-FIRST FOCUS

The 1,500-strong aftermarket servicing and support team is just one measure of WesTrac’s dedication to their NSW/ ACT customers. Being a listening ear and pillar of support for these businesses hasn’t just been essential to growth, says Adrian, but a source of genuine satisfaction for the team too.

“I personally really enjoy engaging with customers,” he exclaims, “It’s one of the great pleasures of what we do - helping our customers be successful. One example of this is when a particular customer fell into financial hardship. Both WesTrac and Caterpillar really helped him out. Now, they’re a hugely successful business. Being a partner to their success is something our people should be really happy with - it’s what we’re here to do, after all.”

The strength and openness of these customer relationships have also challenged Adrian’s thinking and pushed the business forward. One particular moment sticks out in his mind: “A large customer really challenged us about not being able to reclaim worn parts and deliver turnaround times on particular component rebuilds. This really triggered me into thinking about whether we’d invested in the right areas or not.”

“It’s been an honour and privilege to be the Cat Dealer in NSW/ACT for the past 20 years. For WesTrac to be able to service, support, and sell Cat products is something we’re immensely proud of...

As a result, WesTrac made significant investments in its machinery shop and general workshop facilities. Now, it has a world-class rebuild facility that’s delivering excellent outcomes for its mining customers. By rebuilding their machines, businesses aren’t affected by supply chain scarcity and get maximum value from their equipment, even if it has been bought more than 20 years ago.

“This moment was a reminder of the importance of listening to our customers,” Adrian declares. “That one challenge ended up driving one of our best investments. It led to good outcomes for our customers, who now have the ability to cost-effectively reclaim worn parts,, which was particularly important as supply chains became more challenging in the pandemic. It’s been a real opportunity for us to bring some old trades back into our business, like fitting and machining.”

This collaborative and ambitious approach to innovation also benefited one of WesTrac’s biggest customers, mining services provider Thiess. With support from Caterpillar, WesTrac led a drill automation project with Thiess; a successful project that ended up achieving a recent milestone of one million metres of autonomous drilling. This occurred at Thiess’s Mt Arthur South coal operation in New South Wales. “That milestone is a testament to work that’s been done by a number of stakeholders over many years,” says Adrian.

TECH-FORWARD APPROACH

To continue delivering for customers, WesTrac has prioritised investments in the latest technologies, including automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robotics. At their site in Tomago, the introduction of AutoStore in their parts warehouse is already speeding up the efficiency of their aftermarket servicing. Using a combination of robotics and AI, the AutoStore software analyses which parts are ordered the most and stores them accordingly in the warehouse, dynamically moving the most frequently ordered parts to the top so they can be picked faster for customers.

Another AI tool being used is Palantir, which is a digital twin technology that can analyse various WesTrac systems and parts inventories to provide predictive recommendations using AI to ensure WesTrac has the parts on the shelf that their customers need to minimise their downtime.

Alongside other digital technologies, WesTrac is developing systems that support their team to do their job well and more efficiently. Using AI to help colleagues make decisions will help the business deliver excellent customer support even as it grows and supply chains become more complex.

“A notable achievement in the last 12 months is the opening of our Tech Experience Centre,” Adrian notes. “Our most successful customers adopted technology early and have learned, with our help, how to leverage it. By investing in this centre we’re giving them more access to feel and play with technology to see how it can benefit their business and make jobs easier for their people.”

Electrification is another major focus for Caterpillar and WesTrac, alongside the rest of the industry. Already experienced in developing best-in-class diesel engines that reduce fuel consumption and produce less carbon emissions, Caterpillar has new battery technologies in the pipeline.

Adrian explains, “Electrification is exciting, but there are also challenges around product development, servicing support, and helping customers understand how they use battery machines in application. Though the technology isn’t here today, there’s a lot of work going on in the whole network to bring that to market. We’re also working to make sure our people are prepared to service and support this new generation of machines.” us access to large employment markets. Having the ability to attract trades and technicians continues to be an advantage we’re lucky to have.”

Developing and diversifying the team’s skillset is essential to supporting customers now and in the future, says Adrian. “I have a passion for creating employment opportunities. I want to see WesTrac become a bigger, better business. To do this, we need to become more diverse. To support customers as technology and the world change, the skills we need are going to evolve. That’s why I’m passionate about making sure we’re a great employer for the next 20 years.”

Yet it’s not just the future workforce that Adrian is grateful for on the 20th anniversary: “To the colleagues about to chalk up 20 years with us, thank you for your service and support. To all our team members, thank you for everything you’ve done for our business and customers.”

PEOPLE-CENTRIC PURPOSE

The move towards zero emissions and the advance of technology has also driven a change in the skill set required within the team. Despite the industry-wide challenges in finding the right trades to keep the business growing, WesTrac has invested heavily in its people to continue delivering for customers.

Adrian explains, “We have a lot of apprentices in our training program at the moment. Plus, our Tomago facility’s location near the coast in Newcastle has given