The following is an excerpt from The Miner, a quarterly magazine highlighting the work happening at the company’s North America mining operations and processing facilities. Read the full story in the latest edition.
(April 16, 2025) Up where the air turns thin and the rock turns thick, a sudden and dramatic turn straight down and thousands of feet into the earth will yield a most unusual sight.
It may not have a glowing sign or a row of shopping carts, but in the vast tunnels of Henderson’s underground mine, it is still unmistakably a store. And for the employees at Henderson, this 3,600-square-foot depot is the latest in a series of very visible changes meant to revitalize Freeport's molybdenum operations.
Henderson is not the first mine in the company's portfolio to incorporate a vendor-operated Caterpillar parts store. In fact, of the sites determined to need one so far, it is the last. In part, that decision was made because of the logistics surrounding its more unique circumstances, with Henderson being Freeport's only active underground operation in North America.
However, the primary driving force behind the timing of the project as last in the queue was a major upgrade of the site’s haul truck fleet, which is switching from the aging Sandvik Supra to the newer CAT AD63.
"The real conversation about fleet transition began in 2018," said Eileen Sullivan, Technical Superintendent-Henderson. "Only five of the older trucks are in service globally, and it is becoming harder to source parts. It was a big decision, but sometimes those are needed to make even bigger plans."
But with those big decisions and big plans also came the need for big changes.
Partners in progress
Project leaders credit success to dedicated team members like Maribel Perez, Warehouse Supervisor-Henderson (left), and Chad Myers, Supply Chain Technician-Henderson.Sullivan explained the switch in manufacturer didn’t just pose challenges for haulage – where accommodations were needed not only for everything from driver training to crusher modifications – but also for maintenance. Keeping parts above ground and coordinating through multiple programs and suppliers no longer were economical.
Enter Global Supply Chain.
Chase Parker, Category Management Manager-Phoenix, has helped oversee a variety of projects that incorporate third-party operations into sites, including everything from employee carpool agreements with Enterprise to this new CAT parts store in Henderson.
And according to Parker, these on-site, supplier-run stores have demonstrated value, supporting internal strategies like reducing same day/next day orders.
“From the first step to the last, it’s seamless,” Parker said. “The way everything from inventory to invoicing is handled, it reduces errors and controls costs. It really is the best outcome for integration.”
Read the full story about the Henderson underground part store and other features in the current edition of The Miner.