3 Myths about Big Data in Energy and Transportation

There’s a lot of talk about Big Data in energy and transportation these days. As the IT authority, you may find your company’s leaders turning to you with questions about the risks and rewards of getting your equipment connected for remote monitoring. Chances are, you have questions of your own—perhaps around data privacy and security. We have answers. Here’s the reality behind three of the myths we encounter most often.

MYTH: This focus on data is new, and our operation doesn’t need it.
FACT: You’ve been doing it for a long time—technology just makes it easier.

Maybe you’ve heard operations managers say things like, “We’ve never collected data, and we’re doing just fine. Why start now?” That’s not entirely true. Your company has always monitored critical assets. For years, that meant doing walk-around inspections, listening for unusual noises, checking oil, cutting into filters and measuring components. Over time, technologies and processes like oil sampling and root cause analysis provided fresh insights. Big Data is just the next step on the journey.

Remind your leaders that they’ve been capturing data for decision-making for generations. Today’s electronic sensors, control systems, and wireless technologies just make it faster, easier, and more precise—with less human effort required and fewer human errors to deal with.

MYTH: It’s not worth the time and money to manage all this data.
FACT: With expert help, you can see big cost savings and efficiency gains.

Here’s another common refrain: “What are we going to do with all that data? No one has time to manage it.” It’s a valid point. In a typical year, Caterpillar processes information from more than 5 million fluid samples, 700,000 electronic inspections and 5 billion Cat® Product Link™ records. That’s just one year—and just one portion of our data.

Large data sets, in and of themselves, don’t have much value. What matters is careful analysis that turns data into useful, actionable information. Encourage your leaders to team up with the experts at your Cat dealership. They’ve been reviewing asset data for decades and can help your company organize, analyze, visualize, simplify and interpret it. The result—finding, fixing, predicting and preventing problems to maximize uptime and minimize unplanned downtime—will pay for itself many times over.

MYTH: There are too many security risks involved in sharing our data.
FACT: We’re committed to respecting and protecting your information.

With stories about hacking and security breaches regularly in the news, it’s no surprise many operations are hesitant to share their data with suppliers. At Caterpillar, we know your trust and confidence are essential to the success of our technologies and services. Here’s our commitment to you:

We respect the choices you make about your data preferences. We are transparent about how we collect and use your information. And constantly maintain and regularly improve the security measures in place protect your data. You’ll find these commitments in writing in our Connected Product Data Principles and Data Governance Statement.

Put your expertise into action

In your position as the data expert, you can help others in your organization start changing their perceptions about getting connected—and lead the charge to start turning data into bottom-line results. Have additional questions or want more detail? Talk to your Cat dealer today.