TERMINATION OF OVERSIZE HYDRAULIC CYLINDER PROGRAM Caterpillar

  September 2001  

TERMINATION OF OVERSIZE HYDRAULIC CYLINDER PROGRAM

Announcement

Caterpillar Remanufactured Products is announcing the termination of the oversize hydraulic cylinder program effective September 1, 2001. Caterpillar will continue to support dealers with new and standard sized remanufactured hydraulic cylinders. In addition, to assist those dealers who still desire an oversize hydraulic cylinder alternative for their customers, there will be a direct ship, repair and return program available directly through Swanson Industries, the current remanufactured hydraulic cylinder supplier.

For oversize cylinder orders that were placed prior to September 1, 2001, all cores must be returned by March 1, 2002 in order to receive credit. Cores received after March 1, 2002 will not be eligible for credit.

Also, effective September 1, 2001, dealers will be afforded the opportunity to purchase remaining Reman oversize hydraulic cylinder inventory at current dealer net prices without the requirement to return cores. Dealer orders will be invoiced for product price and core deposit per normal procedure. However, Corinth Core Operations Department will automatically refund the core deposit amount. Dealers should not generate a core credit request (CCR) or return a core to Corinth. Dealer orders for remaining inventories of oversized cylinders will be accepted through December 31, 2001 and will be coded as non-returnable.

Direct Ship - Repair and Return Program

• This IS NOT a Caterpillar administered program. All transactions are handled between the dealer and Swanson Industries.

• This IS NOT an exchange program with Swanson Industries.

• This IS a repair and return program.

• Normal turnaround time is 7-14 days.

• Dealers should ship their hydraulic cylinders to Swanson Industries subsidiary:

Mid-Atlantic Manufacturing & Hydraulics, Inc.
Attn: OS Cylinder Direct Ship Program
Route 616 ? Industrial Park
708 Milk Plant Road
Rural Retreat, VA 24368

Specific questions about the repair and return program or the status of a shipment can be answered by calling Bob Perkins or Dan Dix at the facility.
Phone (540)-686-5000.

• Dealers are responsible for all shipping and handling costs.

• Swanson Industries will evaluate individual cylinders and advise the dealer as to the cost for each cylinder to be oversized based on a time and material basis.

• The condition of some hydraulic cylinders may dictate that the cylinder cannot be oversized. When cores are determined to be ineligible for oversizing, the dealer will be notified by Swanson and given the opportunity to place an order for standard sized Reman hydraulic cylinders, or Swanson Industries will ship the ineligible core back to the dealer. If the dealer chooses to place an order through the Caterpillar distribution system for a standard sized Reman hydraulic cylinder, the dealer should notify Swanson Industries. After the order has been placed and the dealer has been invoiced, he should email Corinth with the invoice number and dealers? CCR number that has been transmitted into the CMIS system for core credit refund. Corinth will in turn process the CCR to refund the appropriate core credit.

CORE MANAGEMENT

Please refer to the Caterpillar Core Management Information System (CMIS 2) Parts Information application describing all reman part/CAF and related information. Also refer to other CMIS 2 inquiry applications such as Customer Profiles, Inspection Reason Codes, Inspection Line Inquiry, Add Charge Information, Entitlement Activity, Entitlement Inquiry, CCR Inquiry, CCR Entry, Shipment Processing; Process Packaging Grief; and Reporting to properly manage core returns and monitor inspection performance. This information will be available to all dealers worldwide after your CMIS 2 conversion date. In the meantime,
please continue to use the current CMIS Entitlement Parts Inquiry Screen describing the list of parts in a Core Acceptability Family (CAF) and related part number detail.

For the latest updates of Reman Policies and Core Management (SELD0122), Core Management Systems & Operations Procedures (SELD0040), and Shipping Instructions (SELD0039), go to the Reman website and click on Procedures and Policies (listed under Reman Program Information).

If you have any questions regarding core return processing, feel free to call Corinth toll free at (800) 537-2928. For assistance with technical questions, call the Peoria Reman Customer Satisfaction Hot Line also toll free at (888) 88-REMAN or use our E-mail address--Reman_Help@cat.com.