JLG Names Ara Eckel Director of Product Management for Connected Solutions Platform
JLG Industries has named Ara Eckel director of product management for the company’s connected solutions platform team. In this role, Eckel is tasked with driving the connected channel strategy.
Job site connectivity is an important trend in the construction industry today, and JLG’s connected solutions platform team works to develop cutting-edge digital technologies, that when used with JLG mobile elevating work platforms and telehandlers, improve the overall value of the company’s products. The team’s product portfolio today includes a number of connected assets, including the JLG Augmented Reality and Mobile Control Apps, which include features like the new Bluetooth Enabled Analyzer & Analyzer Reader and Advanced Battery Monitoring System, as well as Clear Sky telematics with Access Control functionality, 3-D Interactive Schematics, a BIM library, SkySense electronic detection system and AccessReady Fusion XR virtual reality training simulators.
“One of the biggest responsibilities JLG has as a leading global equipment manufacturer is to truly understand the needs of users — what they expect from the machine and how they want to interact with the equipment,” said Eckel. “The goal of our team is not only to demonstrate that we can deliver real-world job site value today, but that we also want to grow that value over time through technological advancements that create intuitive, engaging and interactive connected experiences.”
According to Eckel, JLG’s current connected solutions products only scratch the surface of what’s to come. “The sky is the limit for expanding the use of connected technologies. As we work to advance today’s connected job sites and tomorrow’s connected cities, we are focused on the customer. Anything we introduce is intended to make their work easier and their equipment more efficient.”
Eckel moved into this new role in Fall 2021. Prior to joining JLG, Eckel’s work experience included various sales, marketing and technical product roles at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Meltwater Group and Apple Inc. He is a graduate of Ithaca College and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
JLG’s team of product directors includes Eckel, Bob Begley, Daliborka (Dali) Ribeiro and Nate Hoover. This team’s primary focus is on elevating the company’s product strategy across three pillars: safety, productivity and technology.
For more information on JLG products and services, visit JLG.com.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.