Vermeer will also begin introducing new tiers of telematics packages across all of its industrial product lines that will incorporate machine performance information as well as many other data-driven metrics to help crews work more efficiently and maximise their equipment.

Vermeer equipment lines that now come with standard telematics include:

• Horizontal directional drills
• Pipeline trenchers
• Vermeer Terrain Leveller surface excavation machines (SEM)

Additional Vermeer equipment lines will come standard with telematics over the next year.

According to Brad Ausman, product manager for Vermeer Intelligent Worksite, adding telematics to every Vermeer industrial equipment line is the first step in the company's long-term commitment to giving customers access to machine data, which can help them be more proactive with preventative maintenance, right-size their equipment needs and increase operating efficiencies.

"Telematics today have evolved, and reporting has gotten better," Ausman explained. "Today, the Vermeer standard telematics package can help contractors go from reactionary to predictive maintenance. In the future, we'll be able to provide even more data-driven equipment and applications solutions that will allow contractors to operate more efficiently and maximise production."

While telematics has been offered throughout the construction industry for several years, including on many Vermeer models, Vermeer is one of the first to roll out a telematics initiative that spans so many niche industries and machinery categories.

"We are committed to creating data-driven solutions focused on the needs of all the markets and customers we serve," explained Ausman. "To do this, we are talking with contractors and our dealers to shape data into insights that can be acted upon and that will add value to our customers' businesses. This level of telematics, the Vermeer Telematics Silver package, is already available on many horizontal directional drills, pipeline trenchers and the Vermeer Terrain Leveler SEM."

Vermeer is redesigning its telematics user portal to make it more user-friendly and allow contractors to export data for use with other fleet management platforms. The standard Vermeer telematics package is free for the first three years with the purchase of a machine and can be extended beyond that for the cost of the cellular service. Additional telematics packages will be introduced across all of the industrial Vermeer product lines in the future.

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