Cat® Certified Rebuilds: A Sustainability Win

With a Cat Certified Rebuild, our customers can return end-of-life machines, systems and components to like-new condition at a fraction of the cost of buying new. This allows them to keep their current equipment while restoring its original performance and productivity—plus benefit from product enhancements introduced after it was manufactured. And because it's rebuilt, updated, serviced and supported to the high standards required by Caterpillar, a Cat Certified Rebuild helps our customers get maximum return on their original investment. 

Win for Cat Dealers
Since 1985, Cat dealers have completed more than 50,000 Cat Certified Rebuilds on machines, powertrains and components. Trained dealer service professionals perform rebuild work using genuine parts while incorporating the latest engineering updates. Caterpillar provides information, data, training and service tools to help dealers decide which parts to reuse to achieve the expected longevity of rebuilt components. A complete Cat Certified Rebuild includes more than 350 tests and inspections, automatic replacement or reconditioning of approximately 7,000 parts, and a like-new machine warranty.

Current Cat Certified Rebuild options include:

• Complete Machine (140+ models)
• Various Machine Components
• Complete Power Trains
• Commercial Engines (40+ models)
• Hydraulic Systems

Win for Sustainability
Rebuilds reduce cost, restore performance and maximize return on investments. They also may help customers achieve their sustainability goals by avoiding or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the manufacturing of the product, during use and at the end of the equipment’s useful life. That’s a sustainability “win-win-win” for our customers, dealers and Caterpillar.  

When a machine is rebuilt by our dealers, we avoid the GHG emissions that would have been produced in the processing, manufacturing and transportation of materials for a new product. While an estimate of the emissions reduction of a rebuild compared to new product might vary for the size of the product, number of parts replaced, and even the ability to incorporate remanufactured parts; rebuilding a machine provides Caterpillar and our dealers the ability to help our customers reuse materials from their machine, rather than manufacture a new machine.

For example, a rebuilt machine will enable reuse of the steel in the machine, rather than recycling it. According to the World Steel Association¹, reusing steel avoids on average 0.68 metric tons CO2 per metric ton of steel made from scrap steel in an electric arc furnace, 1.37 metric tons CO2 per metric ton of steel from a direct reduced iron-based electric arc furnace, and 2.33 metric tons CO2 per metric ton of steel from a blast furnace basic oxygen furnace. Additionally, when remanufactured components are used during the rebuild, there are also emissions benefits as compared to manufacturing new components. Remanufacturing produces 65-87% less GHG emissions and uses 80-90% less raw materials² than what is produced or consumed in the manufacture of new components.

Product use emissions are typically the largest portion of emissions in the equipment’s lifecycle. By rebuilding machines or engines, Cat dealers help ensure the machine is performing within the engineered design specifications, including fuel efficiency and emission standards. In addition, customers may choose to upgrade their machine during the rebuild process, potentially resulting in further increased fuel efficiency and related emissions reductions. Fleet management tools such as Cat Product Link™ help provide valuable insights into fuel usage, productivity and idle time.  

Lastly, because we are extending the service life of the machine or engine, we keep materials in service. This delays the need for recycling or disposal and avoids the emissions related to the handling of the equipment at the end of its life. Less waste and lower emissions are a “win” for sustainability, supporting Caterpillar’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, one of our five Values in Action and a strategic area of focus. 

Win for Customers
When family-run business SAS Faivre-Rampant Carrières was considering replacement of their Cat 972M XE Loader, they decided to go with a ground-up rebuild of their existing machine. For a family-run company, the impact to the next generation is always personal. As Evelyne Faivre-Rampant, managing director for SAS Faivre-Rampant Carrières, states, “when we looked at rebuilding this machine, it made sense from both environmental and financial standpoints.”

Interested in learning more about the financial and sustainability benefits of Rebuilds? Contact a local Cat dealer or visit cat.com. 

¹World Steel Association Sustainability Indicators 2023 Report

²Cat Reman sustainability statements represent U.S. environmental impacts comparing "gate-to-gate" remanufacturing and manufacturing processes for engines and components. Based on 2018 external study of Cat engines, alternators and turbochargers. Does not include impacts elsewhere in our value chain.