Renewed at CNH Industrial Reman Facility

By By Brad Kramer January 15, 2015 View Profile

CNH Industrial Reman Gets to the Core of the Problem

CNH Industrial — the folks responsible for Case IH, Case Construction and New Holland machinery — invited us down to their Reman facility in Springfield, Mo., Nov. 10-11 for a tour. CNH Industrial Reman began in 2009 as a joint venture between CNH Industrial and Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. (SRC). We went down to visit the facility back then and a lot has changed in the last five years. The company has grown from nine employees to about 250 and has spent $11 million on capital improvement to enhance capabilities in that time. The product catalog has grown from 1,500 to more than 4,000 items. The company operates a 260,000-sq ft facility on the outskirts of Springfield and has added state-of-the-art facilities to offer engines, drivelines, hydraulics and fuel components.

Remanufacturing is the process of recovering used systems and components, repairing and/or replacing worn out or obsolete parts to make a new, yet also used (and lower cost) products for the buyer. Remanufacturing gives customers the opportunity to purchase replacement assemblies and components that are just like new, sometimes better than new due to engineering enhancements, at a reduced price and with a competitive warranty. As the CNH Industrial Reman folks like to say, the products are remanufactured from their core to their original, like-new condition — not rebuilt from the point of failure. The parts are then tested to ensure they meet the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) performance specifications.

“Reman provides a lower cost of ownership with an equal to or sometimes better warranty than buying new,” said Kurt Coffey, sales and marketing director for CNH Industrial Reman. “We provide OEM quality at market value.”

The fuel pump and injector facilities were particularly impressive. You’d think you were looking in on a medical operating room. Everything is behind soundproof glass and in a controlled environment, where airborne particles are filtered out. The technicians wear sterilized gowns and booties like doctors performing delicate surgery. Only in this case, the patient isn’t a poor chap with a bad ticker, but rather a broken-down diesel injector. The “Fuel Room” is a recent $2 million upgrade with a 1,200-sq ft, air-locked certified Class 6 clean room and an additional 500 sq ft for testing and disassembly of fuel injection components. According to our tour guide, clogging and dirt buildup are the two biggest concerns for fuel injectors. Just a quarter of a human hair can cause fuel failure. The state-of-the-art facility can filter air particles down to a micron. To give you an idea of how small that is, a human hair is about 70 microns.

To ensure that the air quality in the Fuel Room continually stays in ideal conditions, eight high-efficiency particulate air filters clean the air, circulating 4,800 cubic feet of air per minute, while a blower system replaces all the air in the room every two minutes. Mag locks control personnel access, and an interlock door system cleanly moves material. All of this is smack dab in the middle of what otherwise looks like a typical parts factory.

In another part of the CNH Industrial Reman complex sits a similarly controlled environment, though not quite as intense. The company’s newest addition, a multimillion dollar hydraulics facility, was introduced earlier in 2014. Right now the hydraulics division remanufactures pumps and cylinders, Coffey said, but additional products such as valves are on the horizon. The division will be fully online with additional investment to come in 2015. Coffey estimates the investment upward of $3 million to $4 million upon completion. By adding these more advanced capabilities, Coffey said CNH Industrial Reman is “going down the punch-list of what we started in 2009.”

“Our history is we’re best in class for driveline,” he said. “It’s the history of who we are. With our engine line gaining more capabilities, we’re filling out our portfolio. Fuel components and hydraulics are the next two biggest aspects of the plan. It’s what our customers need.”