A number of paving and hire firms from across the country joined Finning at a recent pop-up event to see the latest asphalt pavers from Caterpillar.
Road construction and hire companies, involved in both national and regional contracting, were invited to see a range of machines at the company’s HQ in Staffordshire. On show across the two days was the AP400 – a wheeled asphalt paver that has just been released following ‘comprehensive’ field testing.
The Cat AP300F – a small to mid-sized paver – was also featured in the static display, while paving machine specialists were on hand to discuss the latest features available to support safety and efficiency.
Paul Walton, paving and compaction sales manager at Finning, said, “It was great to see some of our major customers dropping in for the event that was deliberately low key to give a personal touch – and that was a great success. It was an opportunity for customers across the UK to get together and get a feel for the latest machines and technology, and how they work in practice.
“Having the machines available on site and being able to show the depth of our expertise was a great opportunity – and our customers also got the chance to meet some of the service engineers, who will be working with them on a day-to-day basis from a maintenance and servicing point of view.
“The AP400 is a new product for Caterpillar but it harks back to Bitelli. It carries the heritage of that brand but all the modern features of a Cat machine, which support efficiency, fuel saving and useability. It surfaces a 2.4 metre to 4.8 metre screed and offers sub-2.5m transport width and sub 14T weight, making it extremely versatile for transporting to site and highly moveable when on site.
“While new machines are being developed, the functionality also continues to move forward with features such as integrated levelling systems, a mobile track system, and tracking fuel usage that help to improve productivity. This event was a good opportunity to continue to raise awareness of that.”
Visitors were also able to get an idea of accessibility to support future projects through the availability of stock.
