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Field service engineers compete to become Caterpillar® Global Dealer Top Technician

Seven field service engineers from Finning have gone head-to-head in a series of challenges for the chance to represent the UK and Ireland and compete at the European regional Caterpillar Global Dealer Technician Challenge taking place in Malaga in March. 

Finning, the world’s largest dealer of Cat^® equipment, parts and aftermarket services, is taking part in the inaugural Global Dealer Technician Challenge which is designed as the ultimate test of engineering skills and knowledge of Cat machinery. Engineers from Cat dealers from over 40 different countries are participating, and the winner will be crowned Global Dealer Top Technician, following the final round at the Las Vegas CONEXPO event in March 2026.

Christina Pritchett, Learning and Development Lead in Engineering & Technical at Finning UK & Ireland outlines the thinking behind the competition: “The technician challenge shines a light on the crucial role that our engineers play in helping all Cat dealers deliver value to our customers. The competition builds on the success of the Global Operator Challenge, which sees huge CONEXPO crowds flock to see the world’s best plant machinery operators complete complex tasks using wheel loaders, backhoe loaders and excavators. Conversely, the Global Dealer Technician Challenge celebrates the heroes behind the scenes, giving them the recognition they deserve for their immense knowledge and skills in keeping these hard-working machines functioning at their best.”

The seven Finning UK & Ireland competitors were selected from a group of 20 nominees who met the qualifying standards to compete which included technical qualifications, five years of service and passing a written exam.

The first round of the competition took place across three days at the Finning UK & Ireland headquarters in Cannock and saw the competitors go head-to-head across three challenges. Each challenge began with a true-to-life customer service interaction where the engineer was given a run-down of the issue with a Cat machine. They were then directed to a machine found in a likely operating environment and given two hours to identify the fault, produce the customer report and fix the fault.

One of the seven competitors, Richard Cox, a Finning engineer for the last 20 years, describes his experience of the first-round competition:

“Whenever you’re working you are aware that time is a factor, so this wasn’t a problem, but being watched by the judges did add a bit of extra excitement. One of the challenges involved diagnosing an electrical fault in a generator power unit, and let’s just say that the organisers were quite ingenious in making it difficult to find. I managed to solve all the challenges, but I am up against some very stiff competition, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

The level of skill, knowledge and service demonstrated by all the engineer’s taking part was highly impressive and after what are sure to be intensive deliberations the winner will be announced in the coming months, where they will hopefully progress to the European Regional Qualifier in Malaga, held in March. Following this, it’s on to the semi-final, also in Malaga, which will bring together qualifiers from all regions outside the Americas. The top five competitors selected will then travel to Las Vegas and get the chance to earn the prestigious title of Caterpillar Global Dealer Top Technician.  

Photo Caption: Tom Wild, a Finning Technical Engineer takes part in the inaugural Global Dealer Technician Challenge will take place over a series of regional competitions around the world.

Photo Caption: The hands-on, skills-based competition will test the technician's agility, resilience and versatility. Pictured are Service Technical Trainer Ivor Mathias, Field Engineer Tom Olley and Customer Service Controller Mike Webb.

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