As input costs continue to rise and more businesses seek to improve their sustainability, John Deere is giving its customers the power of choice through remanufactured (Reman) components.
With more than 2300 Reman parts available across its agricultural, professional turf, construction and forestry equipment, John Deere is marking Global Reman Day tomorrow, Thursday April 23, by shining a light on the positive impacts of its remanufacturing processes.
An initiative of the Remanufacturing Industrial Council (RIC), Global Reman Day helps promote the environmental benefits of remanufacturing, including waste reduction and conservation of materials, and economic benefits including reduced production costs and job creation.
John Deere Australia and New Zealand Director of Aftermarket and Customer Support, Steph Gersekowski, said remanufacturing was a key pillar of the company’s commitment to helping customers get the most out of their equipment.
“In the current macro-economic environment, businesses across the board are trying to find efficiencies and optimise their operations, and we understand that having the power of choice when it comes to what parts are used to maintain and repair equipment is more important than ever,” she said.
“Our John Deere Reman portfolio offers a cost-effective alternative to genuine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts; Reman parts on average cost 20 to 30 per cent less than brand new OEM parts.
“Despite this lower price point, there are no compromises on quality or performance, with Reman products fully inspected, rigorously tested and built to the latest specifications.”
Remanufacturing is a comprehensive process that returns damaged, worn or non-functioning parts to like-new condition, and all Reman parts are protected by a John Deere Reman warranty with up to two years of coverage, including labour costs, if installed by an authorised John Deere dealer.
Favoured by customer and technicians
This quality assurance, guaranteed warranty, reduced equipment downtime, and cost-effectiveness is favoured by customers and technicians alike in the sugarcane-growing region of North Queensland.
Dom Succio is an auto electrician and diesel fitter who has worked for John Deere dealer, Honeycombes Sales & Services at Ingham, for more than 12 years.
He spends his days working on a range of John Deere equipment, including CH570 and CH960 sugarcane harvesters, 9RX 640 four-track tractors, and 6 Series and 7 Series tractors – for all of which he utilises Reman parts.
“We use Reman parts as much as we can to support the product, and we find customers are fairly open to repairing their equipment with these parts due to the good warranty and the fact that John Deere stands by the quality of the parts,” he said.
“Using a Reman part also reduces equipment downtime – we have most of the parts in stock, and if we don’t have it here, it’s available at one of our other branches or we can easily get it from the Regional Parts Distribution Centre in Melbourne.”
In addition to being cheaper than new genuine parts, the ‘plug and play’ nature of Reman parts adds to their cost-effectiveness.
“Reman parts are easy to work with and you know you’ve got a product that’s going to bolt straight in and doesn’t require modifications like third-party parts do,” Dom said.
“It’s genuinely cheaper to go with Reman parts; they’re made for the job and they stand up to the harsh conditions these machines are operating in.”
The refund received from John Deere’s core return option also adds to the attractiveness of Reman products.
“We can say to customers: ‘This is how much the Reman part is to repair your equipment, and this is how much we’ll give you for your old part’,” Dom said.
“It’s just another offering to the customer that makes it more cost-effective.”
Encouraging customers to return the old parts is key to the success of the circular economy created by remanufacturing, and the first step in the John Deere Reman process.
After receiving a damaged part, a John Deere dealer will send the ‘core’ of that part to the core return centre, where it is completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned by either a bake or chemical cleaning process.
All parts are dimensionally verified against the latest John Deere parts specifications, and any part not meeting original factory specifications is either recycled or brought back to specification.
All wear-type parts such as pistons, liners, bushing, bearings, gaskets, and O-rings are replaced 100 per cent of the time with new John Deere parts.
The product is assembled by highly trained technicians to exact John Deere criteria, and must pass a thorough inspection and testing process to ensure it meets or exceeds John Deere specifications, meaning it can be offered with a full warranty.
Steph said remanufacturing parts is key to John Deere and its customers reducing their environmental impact.
“We’re proud to offer remanufactured parts as it keeps valuable components in use for longer, helps to reduce environmental impacts and enables our customers to achieve more with less,” she said.
For more information about John Deere Reman parts, visit www.deere.com.au/en/parts-and-service/parts/remanufactured/ or see your local John Deere dealer.
