Taking Care of Customers

Rebuilding Business and Machines

In Nigeria, about five million metric tonnes of UniCem concrete brand is poured every year. And, the operational equipment helping supply that five million metric tonnes was coming from Cat® dealer Mantrac. Recently. Mantrac started to see a drop in business. As it turns out, much of Lafarge UniCem’s Cat machines were being replaced by a competitor’s machines. 

“We went from machine to machine so we could create a list of rebuild requirements and costs, including parts and labor. Once we fine-tuned everything, we went back [to the customer] with a value proposition to get the [Cat] machines back into service,” said Ibrahim Abeeb, Product Support Sales Representative (PSSR) for Cat dealer Mantrac.  

Trying to convince a customer that taking used, dormant equipment is better value over new, cheaper machines from the competition isn’t easy. However, Lafarge UniCem not only understood the cost-effectiveness and productivity potential of rebuilding Cat machines to like-new condition, they committed to rebuilding 10 pieces of equipment with support from Mantrac engineers and the Caterpillar Support Program. 

An Installation 35 Years in the Making

Swiss insurance company Die Mobiliar was founded in 1826. To help ensure that steady supply and protect their assets, Die Mobiliar had three Cat 3412 generators installed in 1986. Fast forward to October 2020, and Die Mobiliar has upgraded to three C18 generators, each creating 520 kW/660 kVA.

The new generators were installed at Die Mobiliar’s main headquarters in Bern. They are a safety measure and a back-up electrical power source for the company’s in-house data center, which stores information for all the company’s branches. “In our building it is vital that we supply our data center with electricity 24/7. We also have publicly accessible areas such as parking and lifts. So, we must ensure the integrity of our information and the safety of our customers when they are in the building,” said Beat Müller, Employee Building Services for Die Mobiliar.

For Beat, the biggest challenge was replacing existing generator sets with new ones during ongoing operations. “There was a constant exchange and support between the project managers and us, so the project progressed smoothly and we were able to work very well together with [Cat dealer] Avesco.”“We went from machine to machine so we could create a list of rebuild requirements and costs, including parts and labor. Once we fine-tuned everything, we went back [to the customer] with a value proposition to get the [Cat] machines back into service,” said Ibrahim Abeeb, Product Support Sales Representative (PSSR) for Cat dealer Mantrac.  

Trying to convince a customer that taking used, dormant equipment is better value over new, cheaper machines from the competition isn’t easy. However, Lafarge UniCem not only understood the cost-effectiveness and productivity potential of rebuilding Cat machines to like-new condition, they committed to rebuilding 10 pieces of equipment with support from Mantrac engineers and the Caterpillar Support Program.