Officials at Milton CAT, the Northeast and upstate New York Caterpillar Dealer, announced the opening of a complete training center at its Milford, Mass., campus. According to the manager of technician training, Josh Gaynor, “The company has made significant investment into a facility that will give our trainers an ideal environment for both comprehensive and safe instruction.”

In addition, Gaynor reported that the learning center at Milton CAT has received a Regional Dealer Learning Center Certification and is now the Caterpillar-approved training center in the northeastern United States.

“That will offer other area Cat dealers a more cost-effective and easier option than having to fly staff or customers to Peoria, Illinois, for approved Cat training,” said Gaynor.

Besides Milton CAT, other North American dealers who have received accreditation are Holt CAT of Texas, Toromont CAT in Canada, Ring Power out of Florida and Peterson CAT in California.

Certification Requirements

Are Demanding

According to Milton CAT Corporate Communications Director Dean Swartz, in order to become certified, Milton CAT needed to prove that it had the right people, in-depth knowledge and the infrastructure to deliver the learning and instruction at a certain level, meeting tight expectations.

“The Cat audit is on-going with a physical visit every 18 to 24 months,” said Swartz

Kelley Maxwell, Caterpillar dealer learning consultant, added, “Milton CAT has top notch instructors, and many times we come to them for input on certain courses.”

Phil Adams, technical training supervisor, EPG Global Service Training of Caterpillar, said, “Milton CAT teaches the same courses that we teach in Peoria, and in doing so, essentially becomes an extension of the enterprise, allowing technicians the same level of training, available at a more accessible location to them.

“Peoria is not the easiest place to get to for everyone.

“There is a lot of commonality with what we have in Peoria and what Milton CAT has done here — their investment is impressive as they are committed to delivering a first class learning experience to their technicians, as well as to those who come for instruction from other dealerships,” said Adams.

“Another advantage of having the training executed at the dealership level is that dealers are closer to the end market and have a real sense of customer wants and needs.”

In the case of service technicians’ training, Milton CAT is following the Caterpillar curriculum — designed to follow a technician career development path —– and offering degrees at various steps.

“The research backs up the statement that technicians want to keep learning and progressing,” Adams said.

Milton CAT is a privately-owned company with headquarters in Milford, Mass., and locations across the northeast, including upstate New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The company sells and supports Caterpillar and other complementary earthmoving and power systems equipment and ancillaries.

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