H.O. Penn held a technology showcase Aug. 11 at its Bloomingburg, N.Y., location to show its customers how Caterpillar and SITECH/Trimble technology can help cut job times, save money/fuel, improve safety and have more accuracy in depth, grade and slope.

The Bloomingburg location has a unique demonstration area that allowed visitors to test the technology in new Caterpillar skid loaders, excavators and dozers.

The technology was a huge hit; as one customer got out of a machine, another was waiting in line. Representatives from SITECH Metro Northeast were able to educate customers in all the features to show them how to effectively use the software. For example, if the customer wanted to dig a 6 ft. (1.8 m) trench, the software would begin to beep if he was about to go deeper.

Besides the SITECH/Trimble software, H.O. Penn showcased the power of Cat Connect and the EMSolutions software, which comes built into every machine in H.O. Penn’s inventory.

The software allows users to monitor equipment locations, fuel, usage hours, uptime, service, fluid analysis and many other features. Owners can use the software or can have H.O. Penn mange their entire fleet, scheduling repairs and maintenance. With five levels, the software has a purpose for the contractor with one machine or the business with a fleet of more than 100, according to the manufacturer.

All guests got a “swag bag” at the door along with a catered lunch/dinner and each attendee was entered into a raffle to win a one-month rental of a Cat mini-excavator equipped with “GCS Flex.” GCS Flex is a retrofitable grade and slope package that, when affixed to any make or model excavator or backhoe, will enable the machine to indicate depth and slope in the cab.