{"id":34865,"date":"2018-11-13T19:01:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-the-trend-through-open-innovation\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T19:05:20","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:05:20","slug":"caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Future of Construction<\/strong><\/p>\n

As McKinsey analyzed in its report, the construction industry is least digitized one. [1] To solve uncertainties in dusty and dangerous working environment in construction job sites, global construction experts set the next direction of the construction industry. Overall, autonomous vehicles and advanced analytics would replace human operators in job sites. [1] When will these changes happen and how companies can change the whole value chain in construction?<\/p>\n

[1] McKinsey & Company, Imagining construction’s digital future
\nhttps:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/capital-projects-and-infrastructure\/our-insights\/imagining-constructions-digital-future\u00a0\u00a0
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Perspective of the market leader, Caterpillar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caterpillar, the No.1 manufacturer of construction equipment such as excavators, loaders, tractors, now emphasizes the role as a construction solution provider that helps its customers boost efficiency, improve safety and save time and money. [2] It\u2019s solution, \u201cCAT Connect\u201d, connects every machine and human operators using IoT hardware and analyzes the data gathered from them to optimize operation. Caterpillar\u2019s goal is to transform its hardware-based business model into more solution-based, service business.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The beginning of Open Innovation <\/strong><\/p>\n

Caterpillar felt the needs of digitalization from the late 1990s, but they did not come up with notable achievements until recent years. It was hard to change the culture of the company that focuses on the improvement of existing products they developed. Therefore, Caterpillar started to cooperate with external experts. For example, Caterpillar co-developed its fleet management system with Trimble, the industry-leading global navigation satellite system providers through a joint venture company only dedicated to building the platform for next digitalization initiatives. [3] Trimble\u2019s expertise on industrial software enabled Caterpillar to develop a powerful equipment management system.<\/p>\n

However, because of this partnership, Trimble entered the construction market as a total IoT solution provider and became one of the competitors of Caterpillar in solution segment. [4] And there are now over 100 startups that spotted the opportunities in the construction industry. [5] Caterpillar did not intend to make new competitors, but its initiatives are one of the key factors that affected new innovation in the industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Broader Open innovation \u2013 Embracing the Trend<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caterpillar brought more active initiatives on using external resources. In 2015, Caterpillar found a venture capital arm called \u201cCaterpillar Ventures\u201d to invest in early-stage companies operating in the energy, IoT, and advanced materials sectors. [6] Caterpillar no more focuses only on finding M&A targets to make a business impact in the short term. It spends on various early-stage startups to monitor the technology and embrace the trend. [7]<\/p>\n

As a significant shareholder of the companies, Caterpillar can co-develop products with the startups. For instance, Uptake analyzed the data Caterpillar collected from sensors embedded on industrial equipment to build predictive maintenance solution for construction sites. [8] In 2017, Caterpillar acquired Yardclub, the online equipment rental platform designed to manage rented equipment fleet efficiently. [9] Technology of Yardclub itself was not exceptional, but Caterpillar got access to startup ecosystem in Silicon Valley by acquiring talents in start-up company located in the West coast.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Caterpillar\u2019s goal is to keep track of industrial IoT trends related to the future of manufacturing. In 2017, Caterpillar funded \u201cStartup pitch event\u201d for SXSW. [10] The business model of the winner was about material handling robots, which was not directly relevant to Caterpillar\u2019s business. However, after this event, Caterpillar started to invest in similar robotics technologies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next steps <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the short term, Caterpillar should prioritize the technologies it needs and broaden the scope of innovation \u2013 not only in construction or mining sectors but should focus more on the backbone technologies such as Robotics, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics. The company should internalize key technologies by acquiring companies with unique technologies or hiring talented experts. A partnership is essential for open innovation, but it does not mean that external players can solve every issue. In the long run, Caterpillar should collaborate with various companies to build the ecosystem. Even Caterpillar\u2019s competitors as Komatsu can be its partner to gather data and analyze them together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, is it always effective to use open innovation approach for every industries and organization? What are the obstacles to manage innovation from outside? Caterpillar might choose to build an open-source environment that values collaboration with companies in the same field, even with its competitors as Komatsu, Volvo or Trimble. In that case, who will be the winner of the innovation?<\/p>\n

Furthermore, what would be the area of innovation that Caterpillar leads the trend? There are some technologies or business models that Caterpillar cannot be the owner of technologies because of lack of relevance on its original business. For example, Trimble had dominated site monitoring software technology for over decades. Rather than allocating its limited resources on software, should Caterpillar focus on developing a specialized solution that only Caterpillar can offer as the expert in the construction industry? Alternatively, is there no need to limit the scope of innovation?<\/p>\n

(792 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Cover Photo] “Caterpillar, Innovation Past, Present and Future.”, Caterpillar Official Youtube Channel. December 01 2016. https:\/\/youtu.be\/zEAhEPmVu98<\/a> Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[1] Rajat Agarwal, Shankar Chandrasekaran, and Mukund Sridhar. “Imagining construction’s digital future.”\u00a0McKinsey & Company. June 2016. https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/capital-projects-and-infrastructure\/our-insights\/imagining-constructions-digital-future\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[2] CAT Connect (Official Website)\u00a0https:\/\/www.cat.com\/en_US\/by-industry\/construction\/cat-connect.html<\/a>\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[3] “Caterpillar and Trimble form new joint venture.” Trimble IR. October 05 2008.
\nhttp:\/\/investor.trimble.com\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/caterpillar-and-trimble-form-new-joint-venture-improve-customer<\/a>\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[4] Trimble Connect (Official Website)\u00a0https:\/\/connect.trimble.com\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[5] “Building Blocks: 100+ Startups Transforming the construction industry.” CBinsights.\u00a0 July 11 2017.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.cbinsights.com\/research\/construction-tech-startup-market-map\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[6] Caterpillar Ventures (Official Website)
\nhttps:\/\/www.caterpillar.com\/en\/company\/innovation\/caterpillar-ventures.html<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[7] Crunchbase: The list of investments by Caterpillar Ventures
\nhttps:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/caterpillar-ventures\/investments\/investments_list<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[8]\u00a0Tom DiChristopher. “Tech start-up Uptake makes ‘big’ acquisition in race to digitize the industrial industry.” CNBC.\u00a0April 16 2018.
\nhttps:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/04\/16\/machine-learning-firm-uptake-is-acquiring-a-huge-industrial-database.html<\/a>\u00a0 Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[9] Ryan Lawler. “Caterpillar acquired Yard Club, a marketplace for construction equipment.” Techcrunch. May 05 2017.
\nhttps:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/05\/05\/caterpillar-yard-club-acquisition\/<\/a> \u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[10] “SXSW Startup Village” (Official Website)\u00a0http:\/\/www.holtventures.com\/sxsw\/<\/a>\u00a0Accessed via web, Nov 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though the global construction market is worth about $10 trillion, it is one of the slowest industries to adopt new technologies. To complete one construction project, many stakeholders, such as architects, engineering firms, equipment manufacturers, surveying companies and local contractors, work together. Among them, who will be the owner of new opportunities? How can Caterpillar drive the innovation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11389,"featured_media":35296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[4994,4995,4996,4239],"class_list":["post-34865","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate-venture-capital","category-industrial-iot","category-new-business-development","category-open-innovation","hck-taxonomy-organization-caterpillar","hck-taxonomy-industry-construction","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\nCaterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even though the global construction market is worth about $10 trillion, it is one of the slowest industries to adopt new technologies. To complete one construction project, many stakeholders, such as architects, engineering firms, equipment manufacturers, surveying companies and local contractors, work together. Among them, who will be the owner of new opportunities? How can Caterpillar drive the innovation?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-14T00:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/4444.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"953\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"466\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/4444.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-14T00:01:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-14T00:05:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/4444.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/4444.png\",\"width\":953,\"height\":466},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Even though the global construction market is worth about $10 trillion, it is one of the slowest industries to adopt new technologies. To complete one construction project, many stakeholders, such as architects, engineering firms, equipment manufacturers, surveying companies and local contractors, work together. Among them, who will be the owner of new opportunities? How can Caterpillar drive the innovation?","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","article_modified_time":"2018-11-14T00:05:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":953,"height":466,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/4444.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/","name":"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/4444.png","datePublished":"2018-11-14T00:01:33+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-14T00:05:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/4444.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/4444.png","width":953,"height":466},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/caterpillar-embracing-open-innovation-and-co-creation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Caterpillar \u2013 Embracing Open Innovation and Co-creation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/34865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/34865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}