Field service engineer Tom March has taken the lead in the technical assessment of the Caterpillar® Global Dealer Technician Challenge and progressed to the next stage of the competition.

The competition is a new global Caterpillar initiative that recognises excellence in the field of engineering and Tom's performance to date puts him in with a chance to compete with the best-of-the-best at the competition's final, at the CONEXPO trade event in Las Vegas.

Finning UK & Ireland, the world's largest dealer of Cat® machines, parts and aftermarket services, used their Staffordshire headquarters as the base for the first round of the competition which saw seven engineers take part in three timed technical challenges. The next stage of the first round will see Tom complete a written assessment set by Caterpillar as well as a five-minute video interview. Tom was delighted to emerge victorious from the first stage, as he says the competition was extremely close:

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"I was up against some excellent engineers, some with a little bit more experience than me, and none of the challenges were straightforward, so I was honoured to be considered as a front runner."

The Caterpillar Global Dealer Technical Challenge builds on the success of the Global Operator Challenge which sees huge CONEXPO crowds flock to see the world’s best plant machinery operators. Caterpillar see this new initiative as equally important, as Christina Pritchett, Learning and Development Lead in Engineering and Technical, at Finning UK & Ireland explained: "It's great that Caterpillar is recognising the exceptional work that engineers in the dealer network do, and also promoting what an amazing career you can have as an engineer both in field service, or the workshop."

Tom March certainly agrees on this second point, and says that taking part in this competition is the latest in a series of remarkable experiences in his career so far: "I began my career working for Finning in Canada, which involved a lot of travel, working in some incredible places. Having settled down I am now lucky enough to be working as a field engineer in the North-West where I grew up. Every day is different, and I get to meet some interesting people and solve problems for them. I’m delighted to still be in with a chance to compete in this global competition, and I’m looking forward to what comes next."

Subject to a written exam and video submission, Tom will go forward to the next round of the Global Dealer Technician Challenge: the European regional qualifier, which will be held next March at the Caterpillar Demonstration and Learning Centre in Malaga.