Caterpillar And Trimble Announce Change To Joint Venture Providing Greater Flexibility And Customer Focus

Caterpillar and Trimble are restructuring their VirtualSite Solutions LLC (VSS) joint venture, so that each company can accelerate the development of technologies and solutions aligned to their strategic initiatives. Over the next several months, Caterpillar will assume control of VSS and integrate its line of products, including VisionLink, into a broader digital portfolio and future fleet management services.

“Trimble and Caterpillar have a 25-year partnership, which continues to enable each of us to grow our digital capabilities and provide industry leading solutions to customers around the world,” said Ogi Redzic, Caterpillar’s chief digital officer, in a prepared statement. “The change in the VSS structure will allow Caterpillar to develop a holistic digital solution across all industries we serve while leveraging a common platform to manage mixed-fleet data.” 

Since 2008, VSS has served the dual mission of providing factory integrated condition monitoring distributed by Caterpillar along with the development of mixed-fleet, machine agnostic aftermarket connectivity solutions distributed by Trimble.

“The VSS restructuring will allow each company to pursue strategies that will deliver the greatest return for customers,” said Bryn Fosburgh, SVP of Trimble, said in a statement. “Trimble will independently focus on providing our customers with telematics solutions tied to geospatial-based services that improve the productivity of machines and non-machine assets on the site, regardless of manufacturer, as part of Trimble’s Connected Construction strategy.”

Caterpillar and Trimble remain committed to other joint projects that are not affected by this restructuring, which include Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies (CTCT) and the SITECH distribution channel. 

Sources: Trimble & Caterpillar