When a machine component reaches the end of its service life, what happens to it? Sometimes, it may be rebuilt by an equipment dealer or a specialized build shop. Other times, it may just go to a scrap yard or landfill. In 1973, however, Caterpillar came up with a third solution — comprehensive remanufacturing that goes beyond a simple rebuild.

The Cat Reman process strips an end-of-life component down to its smallest piece parts, inspects and cleans everything to a microscopic level and remanufactures usable components to like new condition. From there, the part is remanufactured (not just reassembled) using the same factory specs as a new part, including any new technologies or product updates. Then, it gets reintroduced to the market as one of over 8,000 types of Cat Reman products.

And the entire process starts with the idea of “core return.” 

Cat Reman relies on customers to return end-of-life components to their Cat dealer in exchange for a credit on a replacement Cat Reman product. 

“The lifeblood of our business is really around that core coming back from our customers,” says Trent Tippey, Construction Industry Commercial Manager for Cat Reman. “That way we can leverage our processes in order to return it back to like new.” 

Jeff Gutzwiller, Cat Reman Product Manager for Engines and Engine Components, says core return is key to the value of Cat Reman because cores in good condition can be remanufactured for less money and using fewer resources than the manufacture of a new part from scratch.

He explains, “That's very important to us because A) it's more sustainable, it's the right thing for the environment and B) it keeps things out of landfills. It also reduces the energy… we use in our remanufacturing process. When we get that core back… if it's a core piece of iron — like a casting or a forging — we're just taking it back and we're salvaging it and putting a relatively low amount of energy and work into that product to bring it back to that like new condition… We’re saving energy and saving raw materials by reusing that initial forging or casting or component. That saves a tremendous amount of energy.”

When a customer brings a part in for core exchange, the Cat dealer performs an on-the-spot core inspection and provides an exchange price. If the dealer has a replacement part in stock, the exchange can happen right away. If not, a Cat Reman product can be delivered from one of several facilities around the world.

According to Renea Miller, Section Manager for the Cat Reman facility in Corinth, Mississippi, about 95% of the cores returned worldwide come through the Corinth facility.

From there, she says, the race is on. “When that core piece comes in, that core has to be turned around in 48 hours. The clock starts when that core is actually scanned off of [a] truck. Then, once it's inspected, it either goes to our warehouse facilities and [is] used internally [at the Corinth facility] or it's distributed to other facilities.”

Those facilities then remanufacture the cores to like new quality standards and return them to the Cat Reman product line.

Jeff Gutzwiller sums up the remanufacturing process: “We get your core back. We completely disassemble it, clean it and then use state-of-the-art salvage operations to bring it back to like new performance. And then it is assembled in a Caterpillar manufacturing environment, using the Cat quality management system. And then it goes back out to the field with like new performance backed up by… the same warranty as new.”

Check out the range and variety of available Cat Reman parts.