John Deere highlights the importance of remanufacturing process

John Deere is shining a light on the positive impacts of its remanufacturing processes. Remanufacturing has many environmental and economic benefits, including waste reduction, conservation of materials, reduced production costs, and job creation. John Deere Australia and New Zealand director of aftermarket and customer support Emma Ford said the process was a key component of the company’s mission to help customers do “more with less” to meet the demands of the industry. “As input costs and the global population continue to rise, remanufacturing is about much more than just replacing an engine,” Ms Ford said. “By 2030, there will be 9 billion people on Earth who will need to be fed, clothed and housed. At John Deere we believe we have a critical role to play in that. “Offering remanufactured parts to our customers that reduce their environmental impacts and input expenses helps them meet these demands in a sustainable way.” Ms Ford said, for example, not needing to produce a new engine or axle from scratch meant natural resources were preserved, melting furnaces weren’t fired up, and carbon footprints were smaller. In 2022, John Deere recycled nearly 12.5 million kilograms of material through remanufacturing. Its remanufacturing capability is on track to grow by 50 per cent by 2030 in line with the company’s sustainability strategy. Ms Ford said remanufactured was not the same as rebuilt or repaired. “A rebuilt part is disassembled only to the point of failure, and rebuilt using the same, new or aftermarket part,” she said. “When a component is repaired, only the defective parts are examined and replaced. The remanufacturing process, by contrast, is much more involved. “It’s not just about restoring functionality, but returning previously used, worn, or damaged parts back to like-new condition.” Ms Ford said John Deere completely disassembled the product, thoroughly cleaned and inspected each part for wear or damage, replaced where necessary, and reassembled using the same processes used to produce new components. The remanufacturing process begins with a John Deere dealer receiving a damaged part and sending the core of that part to the core return centre. There, it is completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned by either a baking 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. Finally, each product 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. John Deere only uses remanufactured parts that are completely aligned with its design and dimensions. No aftermarket or “might-fit” parts were used, Ms Ford said. In addition to engines and engine components, remanufactured parts John Deere dealers include transmissions, fuel injection systems, electrical components, hydraulics, and generators.