With around 1,000 pieces of equipment to keep up and running every day, heavy civil contractor Eutaw Construction has to maintain a watchful eye on two vital issues: repair costs and machine availability.

Operations Manager Chip Hussey explains, “The cost of repair parts is important, but you also need to factor the cost of a piece of equipment being down. We want the fastest, most efficient way of getting it back up and going.”

That’s why Eutaw Construction, which services the American Southeast, relies on Cat Reman products for cost-efficient maintenance and repairs. In this article, Hussey and his operations team — Equipment Manager Don Stewart and Shop Foreman Levi Lawson — discuss the benefits of using Cat Reman replacement components, from cost and quality to availability and sustainability benefits.

“The most important thing, is to make sure every machine's ready to go. We’ve had good luck with Cat® Reman products.”

Don Stewart – Equipment Manager, Eutaw Construction

Chip Hussey – Eutaw Construction has been in business for over 40 years… We're a heavy civil contractor. We do a lot of mass excavation, heavy dirt moving operations. We've got structures crews, bridge crews… We don't sub, we try to self-perform, do as much in house as we can. We look at private jobs as well as DOT jobs and airport jobs.

Our fleet consists of approximately 1,000 pieces that we run day to day… Having those Cat Reman options [has] been a big player in getting us back up and going.

Don Stewart – About 50% of our fleet is Caterpillar… My job is to make sure the equipment is up and running and productive, every day… We have good luck with Cat Reman products.

Levi Lawson – Parts availability is everything. For every moment that we're down, we're not making money. If we're not making money, we're not in business. The parts availability is the bloodline to keep us doing what we're doing.

Because Cat Reman parts are offered at 45-85% of the cost of new when core is returned, they help the Eutaw team make the most of the company’s repair and maintenance budget.

Levi Lawson – Price and availability… is always something that weighs on us. If it makes money, it makes sense. That goes with the repair too. With any repair, you don't want to have any more money tied up in it than what is necessary.

Don Stewart – We do a lot of builds on older equipment. We can keep production going with the older stuff, just as well as the new.

Chip Hussey – So we always weigh the options… which one is the most efficient with everything being considered [for] getting the piece of equipment back up and going.

Cat Reman parts also deliver total confidence for the Eutaw team. Remanufactured by Caterpillar to OEM performace specs and rigorously tested for quality, Cat Reman parts provide like new performance. Plus, they’re covered under a same-as-new, 12-month Caterpillar Parts Warranty¹.

Don Stewart – The most important thing for keeping equipment up is having the right parts on hand.

Chip Hussey – We’ve got to make sure our equipment's ready to go when we have the days to be productive, in and out of weather or whatever other things that may be… out of our control. And that's another reason why it's so important to have the availability of those things and have the support.

Levi Lawson – Off-the-shelf availability [of Cat Reman parts] provides us with service to keep rolling every day. Like I said earlier, the longer we wait for a product, the longer we're down, the less production we get and the more it costs us in the long run. On-demand, off-the-shelf availability is essential to [the] everyday functionality of this company.

By reconditioning and reusing major component cores, the Cat Reman process emits 65-87% less greenhouse gases, uses 80-90% less new materials, and 65-87% less energy2 is used than the manufacture of new parts. Core return also helps Eutaw save time, money and effort by eliminating the need to dispose of major component cores.

Chip Hussey – Being able to turn in those cores when we’re getting [Cat Reman] parts or receiving [Cat Reman] parts… helps us in the decision-making, because that takes some of the cost of proper disposal — or anything along those lines — off of us as a company.

Again, on the Cat Reman parts, Caterpillar standing behind those parts is very important, having that sustainability… is very important.

Levi Lawson – If you do not return your core, not only are you wasting money because you are charged a core charge for a reason, but the sustainability of the part will not be there.

That core charge is there to ensure that the part is returned, that it can be remanufactured, and then reused by the next customer.

The cost and performance benefits of Cat Reman parts make them a go-to option for many types of repairs, and the fact that they’re backed up by responsive service from Eutaw’s Cat dealer, Thompson Machinery, puts them another cut above.

Chip Hussey – One thing I like about Caterpillar and the [Cat] Reman [products] is: They stand behind those parts. Service and longevity is very important to what we do. If we get the service [we need], the cost is outweighed.

Levi Lawson – Cat Reman parts have been a part of Eutaw Construction since the word go. They're just as good as OEM parts, and at a more affordable price3.

We implement Cat Reman parts on every one of our Cat machines. There's no component that has offered [Cat] Reman that I would back up from, knowing that Caterpillar would stand behind that product.

Don Stewart – Eutaw is 100% employee owned, [so] it's up to us to make sure every job is profitable.

Chip Hussey – I think 100%, they're a partner in our success.

Check out the range and variety of available Cat Reman parts.

^{1 Warranty can vary by model and application; limitations may apply. For complete details about the applicable Caterpillar Limited Warranty, contact an authorized Cat dealer.
2 Represents 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.}
3 This content portrays opinions of featured customers, based on their experience with Cat Reman and their authorized Cat dealers. Not all examples used are representative of every customer in every geographic region. For complete details about the applicable Caterpillar Limited Warranty and limitations, contact an authorized Cat dealer.