From the Show Floor: CONEXPO Post-Show Roundup

by Lori Ditoro

The madness of March was not limited to the basketball court. My first CONEXPO-CON/ AGG (CONEXPO) experience was as advertised by my colleagues and coworkers: large square footage, miles of walking, sore feet all day, and great people and conversations at every booth.

However, some aspects of the event exceeded expectations, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. More than 139,000 people attended the event, with 2,400 exhibitors sharing innovative technologies and introducing new brands. Many of the new equipment and brand updates follow.

During several events at CONEXPO, Caterpillar unveiled its new C13D engine. These events included a preshow press meeting, a dealer presentation at Allegiant Stadium and a booth unveiling where I interviewed experts to get more details about the engine.

Engineered for reliability and productivity, the inline, six-cylinder Cat C13D engine platform will offer eight power ratings from 456 horsepower (hp) to 690 hp—340 kilowatts (kW) to 515 kW with up to 3,200 Newton meter of peak torque.

In addition to the new engine, the team discussed its focus on sustainability that includes:

• Right sizing the engines in machines

• Exploring all power sources

• Helping charge/fuel equipment

• Supporting infrastructure for electric and alternative fuel accessibility

• Using technology to manage idling

• New apps were also discussed Media also received a preview of the Global Operator Challenge and met the nine operators competing in the Operator Stadium during CONEXPO. Most of the operators began their love of equipment riding with their fathers at a young age. The competitors were:

• Fernando Nasciemento – Brazil

• John Schiedeck – U.S.

• Lukasz Mokrynski – Poland

• Masato Imai – Japan

• Matt Ferris – U.S.

• Nick Thompson – Australia

• Patrick Doheny – Australia

• Pontus Eriksson – Sweden

• Sebastian Behr – German

During the conversation, I asked what technology has most helped them do their jobs better. Most mentioned connective or IoT technology, saying it moved them from the stone age to the modern age. Some of the technologies highlighted were:

• Graders

• Trenchers and grade assist

• 3D and 2D systems (slope precision and geofencing)

On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Patrick Doheny of Australia took the crown out of nine finalists from around the world who competed in the final round of the Global Operator Challenge in the Cat Operator Stadium in Las Vegas.

During the main show, we talked with the Cat team about the new technology at the show, including the smallfootprint C13D.

At a press conference during CONEXPO, the Cummins team discussed its plans for moving to zero emissions for its customers. Eric Neal, Cummins executive director, off highway, discussed recent acquisitions and partnerships, including

Meritor, and how they help Cummins’ future. They provide:

• Strategic partnerships to help decrease carbon emissions

• Secured supply chain partners

• Paths to electrification, alternative fuels and advanced internal combustion engine performance

“Cummins powers more types of machines and vehicles than anyone else. The breadth of our business across market segments and regions means that we are the ideal partner to help our customers through this transition,” Neal said.

Then Amy Davis, president of

Accelera, Cummins’ new brand with a zero-emission mission, talked about the goals and products of the brand, which represents a new era for Cummins.

Davis echoed the sentiments that Cummins President and CEO Jennifer Rumsey shared during her keynote

Giotto and Leonardo have been first choice customizable displays for manufacturers of agricultural and earth-moving vehicles for many years now. Today the two successful displays have been upgraded and based on the Linux operating system and the Qt framework.

With the new version of Giotto and Leonardo featuring Linux and Qt tools, OEMs have the possibility to reuse some existing applications on MTA hardware without the need to recode them from scratch.

Thanks to Qt, the new displays will enable future-proof and best-performing applications’ development.

Giotto and Leonardo are built to resist the rugged conditions and harsh environments typical of construction applications.

at the Green Truck Summit and in her podcast with OEM Off-Highway. There is no one answer for powering future off-highway equipment. Power providers must consider battery electric, hydrogen fuel cells, alternative fuels, and hydrogen combustion. Davis talked more about this in our exclusive interview following the press conference. Learn more with this article.

The OEM Off-Highway team also joined Cummins Marketing Communications Director Steve Nendik for a full tour of the equipment featured at the booth. One of the most popular was the fuel agnostic engine that showed the common parts of the engine and the different parts (the top) for each fuel.

During Monday’s media day, we were happy to join the Isuzu Motors America team for lunch and a great conversation around what the company was exhibiting at their booth.

The equipment included Open genset power units that help OEMs provide power to machines and standby power solutions.

At its press conference, the Yanmar team presented its Green Challenge 2050 vision for the future. This included:

• 4TN107FTT Powerpack

• HIPOWER SYSTEMS’ EHR Battery Power Generator

• ELEO modular, high-density battery

• The vision includes new Yanmar products and acquisitions and partnerships.

The JCB team debuted its hydrogen combustion engine in North America during CONEXPO. The press conference covered the details that OEM OffHighway featured in its March/April 2023 cover series. The hydrogen combustion engine was designed from the ground up, and features:

• Hydrogen and air mixing—Using a gas as fuel required a uniform mixing of fuel and air.

• Air compression—Forcing the air into the mixing/combustion chamber or cylinder required a turbocharger.

• Spark ignition—Better sparkplugs were necessary.

• Steam management—Steam is the only emission and corrosion could occur.

Our team was pleased to talk with Anne Marie Johlie, head of Internet of Things (IoT) and connected products, who gave us a tour of several technologies on exhibit. Among them was the technology through Parker’s partnership with Camgian for machine learning, mobile IoT, converters, a controller module and mobile pumps.

Impact sensors, part of the mobile IoT, are important for equipment owners and operators. They monitor the magnitude of an impact, which is beneficial for operator safety and for warranties.

During a conversation with CEO Sebastian Schulte and senior vice president, communications and investor relations, our team learned more about DEUTZ and its future. Schulte discussed the need and desire to support and grow their classic diesel business, where the company produced 185,000 engines. The diesel engine range is 2.2 liter to 18 liter.

However, he knows that DEUTZ must look to the future. A carbon-zero future includes a mix of power alternatives: electric, alternative fuels, hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion. Schulte said he feels that hydrogen combustion is best for off-highway applications that require more power than battery electric energy can provide.

Also, a strength for DEUTZ is its partnerships. Specifically, the partnership with Daimler Truck to provide its medium-duty and heavy-duty engines has been positive and helped consolidate the market.

Providing breakfast and information, the Bosch Rexroth team hosted a press conference to discuss the recent Hydraforce acquisition, the partnership with Hägglunds and its electrified technology. President and CEO Greg Gumbs discussed the company’s growth in Mexico and the goal of transforming mobile machines.

Our team took a booth tour with the John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) team. Expanding its sustainable technology, JDPS exhibited its growing battery portfolio that includes more modular power options and new electronics hardware solutions. As more of the industry moves to electric, JDPS is investing significant resources in battery and charging technologies for off-highway equipment applications. Together, JDPS and Kreisel Electric (Kreisel) are working to expand the production capacity of Kreisel and accelerate the development of the company’s battery technology.

In addition to the 63 kWh Kreisel KBP63 battery that was displayed at bauma 2022, three new concept Kreisel batteries were displayed during CONEXPO, including 20 kWh and 40 kWh power options. JDPS has also designed a family of electronics hardware that enables seamless connection to help deliver a complete system for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The newest technology, on display at the booth, was the Gb Ethernet Switch. This module manages the transfer of controls information and other data to multiple devices in a system, all in real time.

During a joint press conference, Volvo Penta and Gradall shared a fully electric, highway-speed excavator powered by a Volva Penta electric driveline. The excavator will have another year of testing before it is available. The Volvo Penta team took a systems approach and provided a complete system including batteries, motors and cabling. According to Darren Tasker, vice president, industrial sales, for Volvo Penta, the product will evolve over time. His team is committed to sciencebased sustainability.

Moog Construction launched TerraTech during CONEXPO, an ecosystem for