Caterpillar paves the way in heavy machinery remanufacturing

©Alexander Kazharski, image #108924001, 2017, source: Fotolia.com

Information

Impacts:
Sustainability Energy Waste Materials Water
Sector:
Manufacture and repair of metal products, machinery and equipment
Investment cost:
High cost
Cost savings:
Depending on the percentage of remanufactured components in the machine
Cost:
High cost
Associated cost savings: Energy
10-88%
Size of company:
Large (more than 250)
Advancement in applying resource efficiency measures:
Advanced

Long history of sustainability on display

  • Clever scheme to promote end-of-life product remanufacturing
  • Almost no waste sent to landfill, and huge reductions in energy and water use

Caterpillar is an American heavy machinery- and engine-maker with a strong brand and long history in remanufacturing dating back to 1973 when it realised that keeping products in-house allowed them to retain ownership and associated value, and reduce material costs.

CAT REMAN is the branch of Caterpillar that deals exclusively with remanufacturing machinery or their components by offering an end-of-life scheme to customers who return their products in order to collect the initial deposit paid. Once the discarded product is received by CAT REMAN, it is disassembled, cleaned, repaired and finally reassembled into new products, including engineering updates and innovations. In this way, value and functionality is added to the old products or parts and they are sold as new with a full warrantee.

Key results

The company estimates that its remanufacturing services have led to reductions in water use by 93 %, energy use by 86 %, and waste sent to landfill by 99 %. CAT REMAN also boasts a 99 % reduction in material use compared to making a new product.

The company receives more than 2 million components each year and they have now started remanufacturing operations for other companies’ products as well. In total, the remanufacturing activities cover around € 3 billion ($3.5 billion) worth of products and components.

Hervé Mathe, 2015, Living Innovation: Competing in the 21st Century Access Economy,  World Scientific, ISBN9814719595, 9789814719599

Caterpillar, Circular economy, http://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/sustainability/remanufacturing.ht…

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