SPRING-FREEWHEEL 5044210 - Caterpillar

Illustration 1. Easy access to the latest service information is provided by the portable microfiche library and reader.HBM recently completed a trial distribution of the "Athena" information package to selected field personnel. The package included a portable fiche reader, portions of the Caterpillar microfiche library (SIRS, Parts Books and Service Manuals) and some HBM-generated fiche. This package is eventually intended for all technical inspectors and most field servicemen. The results of this test and a description of "Project Athena" follow.
HBM's first step was to examine the problems confronting the field serviceman. When the service trucks were fitted with the necessary tools and equipment, little space remained for a library of reference materials, especially one of the size needed for a machine population that spread over the entire product line. Thus, field servicemen were almost entirely dependent on the customer for parts books, service manuals and other literature. Unfortunately, customer's libraries were frequently incomplete and/or outdated, and they seldom included Service Manuals. Although radio and telephone contacts with the branch store supplemented the basic information, they often proved inconvenient and time-consuming. Long distance contacts were especially deficient when lengthly troubleshooting procedures, complex repairs or specifications were involved.
As a result, servicemen relied heavily on their own experience to repair the equipment. They were usually able to do the job, but, too often, they worked less quickly and efficiently than they could have with appropriate resources at hand - and sometimes quality suffered.
Illustration 2. When necessary, the serviceman can contact the dealer by radio to check for parts availability or to get additional service details.The absence of a reference library created problems in an area that should have been an important "plus" for the Cat dealer. No one was satisfied, and HBM started looking for solutions.
In a further examination of the situation several facts emerged which had to be considered in the development of the program: - The total field population included up to 18,000 Caterpillar earthmoving machines spread over the entire product line.- The products were changing. New products require knowledge of new technologies significantly different from earlier machines.- Customer fleets were growing in size and expanding their model spread.- Many field servicemen were "resident", working from their own base. Others worked out of a branch or satellite (mini) workshop. Most of them must be qualified to work on any type of machine or problem.- A paper library is bulky and requires a larger, heavier vehicle.- Updating a paper library is expensive, time consuming and must be well organized. Paper documents are also updated less frequently. Even a complete library would not assure that the serviceman would always have the most current information.
HBM concluded that microfiche provided the only reasonable solution. To test the new system and to gain both functional and financial acceptance, they decided to limit the initial proposal to 40 participants. Special training programs supported servicemen who were hesitant to use the unfamiliar fiche and readers.
Documentation was limited to the 200 most common serial number prefixes, which