Post-journey reflection(Caterpillar)

So, I went to Caterpillar Reman facility on the 16th of November 2011. First, we got a short briefing on what caterpillar does in Singapore. We learned about caterpillar's business model of "seed, nurture and then harvest". We also learned about the advantages of remanufacturing. Remanufucturing involves taking old and worn-out parts and then re-working them to the same standards and functionability as new products, with the company providing the same warranty as a new product. Remanufactured products usually cost about 50% of what new products cost and are usually just as good as new products. They also happen to be environmentally friendly, with each part being able to be recycled up to 3/4times before it is deemed too used to be remanufactured to an acceptable level. As caterpillar must maintain the standard of remanufactured products, checks are conducted at every stage of the reman process. I was attached tpo an engineer in charge of Quality and was brought around the facility, looking at where they stored the parts, how they cleaned the parts, how they sampled and tested the parts through tests such as the dyno test. We also learned about a program that the quality engineers use to reduce risks. During operations, the quality engineer must come up with the possible risks that could arise and enter it into the program, the program then outputs the overall risk level denoted by an numerical value. The quality engineer then comes up with methods to alleviate or get rid of these risks and then enters it into the program, after which, the program outputs the final risk level after taking into account risks and methods to overcome them. Should a problem arise during the reman process, a thorough investigation is carried out and corrective actions will be undertaken to ensure it does not happen again. The tools used are checked once every month in-house and once a year by external vendors.