Happy Birthday Reman

March 2013 marks 40 years since the inception of remanufacturing as a core business of Caterpillar. Today, we know Cat Reman as an industry leader processing more than two million units per year, but it all began at a single facility in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1973. Caterpillar entered the remanufacturing industry with the 1100 series engine.

Over the years, Reman has consistently offered optimum value to customers. Lower cost, shorter down time and dependable service are pillars of the Reman business that have stood the test of time.

Rickey Nickles, a Caterpillar retiree who helped build the very first remanufactured engine remembers the beginning days quite well. "It was obvious early on that remanufacturing was going to be very successful," he said. "In fact we used to tell the dealer tours about the benefits of Reman salvaging new damaged parts and turning them into remanufactured parts - like regrinding new damaged crankshafts to undersize - then sharing the savings with Caterpillar, dealers and customers," Rickey explained.

In these 40 years, Cat Reman has grown into a global business with 17 facilities in 7 countries around the World. The 4,000 Cat Reman employees support over 6,000 different products and contribute significantly to sustainability efforts at Caterpillar. In 2012, Cat Reman took back 171 million pounds of end-of-life material and recycles 97-99 percent of all materials it accepts. To learn more about remanufacturing at Caterpillar, visit http://www.caterpillar.com/sustainability/remanufacturing.