REUSE & SUSTAINABILITY

For many customers and members of our team, it’s the reusability of Cat parts that most stands out. Caterpillar products are designed to operate for longer lifecycles and be remanufactured for additional lives. This benefits the environment since, by their very existence, longer-lasting components mean less waste material added to landfills and less raw materials consumed than the manufacture of new parts.

As Jeff Gutzwiller, Product Manager for Cat Reman engines and engine components, puts it, “the secret sauce to Cat Reman success is: Our products are designed for multiple lives… We have state-of-the-art salvage and cleaning techniques and assembly processes… And when we get that core [i.e., used equipment part] back, we're continually, in essence, recycling that, and we're saving energy and saving raw materials by reusing that initial forging or casting or component. That saves a tremendous amount of energy and is a sustainability improver for the globe.”

A facility manager at our remanufacturing factory in West Fargo, North Dakota, seconds the notion that sustainability is a key takeaway. When customers purchase a Cat Reman part, “they can trust it works just like a new part… We save them money and we’ve done good things both on the sustainability side, on the environmental side. So, it’s a good feeling for them, it’s a good feeling for us.”

REMANUFACTURING AND RESTORING CORE

There’s a lot of good feeling to go around, particularly among our global infrastructure of dealers. As an essential part of the customer/Caterpillar relationship, dealers receive core from customers. Once the core passes inspection at the dealer-level, the core is sent to our remanufacturing facilities to salvage and reclaim its inherent value. Following this process, the newly remanufactured part returns to the supply chain as a product that offers like new performance for a fraction of the cost of new.

When remanufacturing core components, we ensure Cat Reman parts match current OEM specifications and incorporate the latest engineering updates, with much of the same machinery, resources and tools as those used for the manufacture of new parts. To Dave Andres, Cat Reman Strategy Manager, it’s simple: “The secret sauce is core.” Marcus Fair, Global On-Highway Truck Engine Sales Manager, elaborates: “The secret sauce [of Cat Reman] is the ability to globally… capture core and bring it back to our processes; as well as provide salvage technology to bring our parts back to OEM specifications.”

THE UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY THAT KEEPS CAT REMAN RUNNING

Our investment in technology and the top talent to operate it stretches beyond salvage. It encompasses the entire Cat Reman process. Dedicated specialists and the skills they provide — from design and engineering to assembly and quality control — make the availability, affordability and sustainable processes of Cat Reman possible.

Trent Tippey, a Cat Reman Commercial Manager dedicated to construction industries, breaks down the secret sauce quite literally:

“Going from end-of-life iron to looking exactly like a brand-new piece of equipment and unable for the eye to tell the difference, that's an amazing feat… Beyond that, you know, there's the engineering, the technology, the technical capability, the vast dealer network that we have. All of these things come together, I think in a really awesome recipe that allows our customers… to have a very awesome outcome. And as we continue to think about what that means, I think it's going to continue to grow and evolve over time, just like great recipes.”

Jennifer Keffeler, Aftermarket Sales Manager for on-highway truck, puts it simply: “Cat Reman’s secret sauce is really in the knowledge of our product engineers and teams.”

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

With Caterpillar, it’s all about optimizing our parts — for their first life and for each lifecycle that follows. There’s new opportunity to be found in the remanufacture of essential components as well as like new performance designed to keep your operation moving.

When coupling these needs with the protection of a standard 12-month Caterpillar Parts Warranty^*, customers can trust the power and potential of Cat Reman.

^{*Limitations may apply. For complete details about the applicable Caterpillar Limited Warranty, contact an authorized Cat dealer.}