www.ReMaTec.com
December 2016 / January 2017
REMANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL
CHINA on the rise
A look inside the world’s next reman powerhouse
Also
BigR/ReMaTecUSA: Full report
Company profile: De Sutter Goodbye 2016... ...and hello 2017
Re Ye man IN a S Ro r: Th ufac ID lf S e p tur E tei as er o nh sio f t ilp n he er of
The Trump effect: What the new US president means for reman
EDITORIAL
‘So we come to the end of 2016 – the year when more or less anything seemed possible’
W
elcome to the final ReMaTecNews of the year. China is the focus of this issue: as we report, it is a country that is increasingly open for business and keen to forge links with reman companies elsewhere in the world. Whether you think that represents a threat or an opportunity for your own reman business, it is not a market that can be ignored. China is only going to grow in importance. Four pages of BigR/ ReMaTecUSA 2016 coverage start on p17 and there are more stories from the show
in our News and People pages – including the announcement of the Remanufacturer of the Year. More of that later. In Las Vegas, master mechanic Bogi Lateiner had some frank advice for the reman industry: “Be the high tide - not the anchor. You have a choice to be part of what makes the change and elevates the reputation of the industry and changes perceptions.” It is something we can all consider going forward. Elsewhere, it has been quite a year: you might recognise a few of the stories in our review of the year – as seen through the pages of ReMaTecNews – on p36. There was Brexit, of course, and the continuing fall-out from the Volkswagen emissions scandal – followed by the election of a certain Donald J. Trump to become the most powerful man in the world. We ponder what a Trump presidency might have in store for the reman industry. Finally, the news that Rolf Steinhilper is the Remanufacturer of the Year is particularly welcome – he is a tireless advocate for reman and the industry is lucky to have him on its side. You will find a heartfelt tribute to him in this issue of ReMaTecNews from ROTY jury chairman Fernand Weiland, while Rolf himself shares his thoughts on the future of reman on p29. As ever, a big thank you goes to all our contributors – and to all our readers: with your support, feedback and constructive criticism we can ensure that the magazine and our website, www.ReMaTecNews.com remains as useful and responsive as you need it to be. Please let me know where we can do better. Turning to the future, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a peaceful and prosperous 2017 – and, before that, a restful holiday season. You have earned it.
Adam Hill Editor
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Published by RAI Amsterdam B.V. P.O. Box 77777, 1070 MS Amsterdam The Netherlands In association with Route2Market Editor Adam Hill editorial@rematecnews.com Phone: +44 (0)7931 502947 Route One Publishing Managing Director Andrew Barriball abarriball@ropl.com Project Manager Nick Bond nbond@ropl.com Phone: +44 (0)1322 612066 Contributors in this issue Peter Bartel, Rogier Bos, Steve McQueen, Katherine Pickersgill, Denise Rondini, Volker Schittenhelm, Rolf Steinhilper, Fernand Weiland Marketing Communications & PR Evelien Feijen e.feijen@rai.nl Phone: +31 (0)20 54915 81 Advertising Sales Yorien de Ruijter Phone: +31 (0)20 5493075 Fax: +31 (0)20 5491889 advertising@ReMaTecnews.com Publisher Nynke Lipsius - Mulder (responsible under Dutch Press Law) n.lipsius-mulder@rai.nl Design, Production & Printing Route One Publishing Ltd Copyright RAI Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reproduction No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, RAI Amsterdam B.V. Subscription magazine & eNewsletter www.ReMaTecNews.com Change of address info@ReMaTecNews.com ReMaTecNews online www.ReMaTecNews.com Circulation Approx.13,500 readers per edition. The magazine is delivered on a controlled circulation basis to recipients in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Asia.
ReMaTecNews
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CONTENTS
Remanufacturer of the Year
Company profile: De Sutter
‘The peak of my career’ is how Rolf Steinhilper describes the award. ROTY jury chairman Fernand Weiland offers his own warm tribute
After 99 years in business, the Dutch firm is clear about one thing: ‘Reman is always about change - nothing is ever the same’
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COVER STORY China on the rise One of the world’s largest economies is set to become a reman powerhouse: but what is holding things up?
The Big Interview Xie Jianjun of China’s leading reman association on the challenges, frustrations and potential of this enormous market
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BigR/ReMaTecUSA Catch the mood on the floor at North America’s biggest reman show, with a flavour of the personalities and topics making the news
Vox Pop We asked, you answered: so what do you think? Is China a threat to reman - or is it an opportunity?
Viewpoint Common definitions are a big step forward, but now we must align them with reman in nonautomotive industries, thinks Peter Bartel
Notes & Comment The Trump effect: what will the policies of the new US president mean for the reman industry in North America and further afield?
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People The latest company hires, promotions and expanded roles: catch up with reman’s movers and shakers
Review of the Year 2016 was full of surprises but perhaps there are some left for 2017. We take a look back over the last 12 months of ReMaTecNews
Products The winners of the Innovation Awards will be announced at ReMaTec 2017 in Amsterdam next June, but you need to get involved NOW to give yourself a chance
Diary A comprehensive look at the shows and events that you should have your eye on throughout 2017
ReMaTecNews
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NEWS
RAI sells share in BigR/ReMaTecUSA After three successful years in which RAI and APRA organised the BigR/ ReMaTecUSA show in Las Vegas, RAI and APRA have mutually decided to change their partnership. ReMaTec aims to be an independent platform with high quality exhibitors and visitors focusing on the remanufacturing industry in general. “Expanding the event to other industries like maritime, agriculture and aerospace is our main goal for the future,” according to Bas Dalm (pictured), senior
vice president, international exhibitions for RAI Amsterdam. This vision for the future of ReMaTec led to separation between RAI and APRA for their US activities related to BigR/ReMaTecUSA. From now on, APRA will focus on conventions within its regional area, North America. For RAI Amsterdam the change means it will no longer be organising the BigR/ReMaTec show in 2017. This makes APRA solely responsible for the entire show management and the BigR/ReMaTecUSA
show will be rebranded to the ‘International Big R’ show. RAI Amsterdam, with its brands ReMaTec and ReMaTecNews, will focus on continuing to be the international platform for the global reman industry. APRA Europe, FIRM and other partners continue to be involved in these ReMaTec platforms. The change in partnership gives all parties and the remanufacturing industry new opportunities and a bright future. • BigR/ReMaTecUSA report, p17
Roadlink supplies GROUPAUTO/UAN Reman braking specialist Roadlink International has been made an approved supplier to GROUPAUTO/UAN commercial vehicle trading groups. The company offers a range of new and remanufactured braking solutions, including calipers and brake shoes, as well as supplying a wide range of pads, discs and drums. Earlier this year, Roadlink expanded its reman services in the UK by investing in a new brake caliper production facility. “Our brand new remanufacturing facility demonstrates our ability to meet increased demand from customers and offers an unrivalled confidence in supply to GROUPAUTO and UAN distributors,” says Keith Sedgley, Roadlink joint managing director. “We will work closely with distributors to ensure they are fully aware of the range and technical support available to them.” In addition to its reman offering, Roadlink is also the distributor for OE trailer shock absorbers AL-KO.
Chinese reman facility unveiled ReMaTecNews was invited by the Remanufacturing Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CRPA) to be among the guests at the official opening of the Wuzhou Remanufacturing Base in Wuzhou, southern China. It is the fourth such reman demonstration park to be opened by the Chinese government. They are aimed at attracting investors from inside and outside China, with incentives including subsidies
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and relaxed rules on such vital issues as the import of cores. The ceremony was followed by a Sino-European
Remanufacturing Forum at which speakers included CPRA secretary general Xie Jianjun. • China on the rise, p30
WAI BUYS DUBOIS WAI has acquired part of DuBois Marketing, which means that DuBois orders will now be processed through WAI. The inventory and operations of DuBois have been transferred to WAI’s global distribution centre located in Southaven, Mississippi. “This is the best possible scenario for our customers” said Mark Hoogterp, vice president of DuBois. “WAI is committed to providing the specific product lines and part numbers that our industry has always purchased from DuBois. This addition to the extensive WAI line, with a single order point and shipping point, will be a huge convenience for the customer.” The deal means that more than 800 DuBois unique part numbers will be in stock. “DuBois Marketing has proudly served the rotating electric aftermarket for 40 years and we look forward to continuing to offer their products through WAI,” said Jeff Sween, CEO and president of WAI.
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NEWS
Core cleaning investment for transmission specialist ATP An investment in over £500,000 worth of core cleaning equipment will have important local environmental benefits, reduce operating costs and increase production capacity at a major UK parts remanufacturing plant. Alan Smart, chairman of Cannock-based ATP Industries Group, says the cost of expenditure on equipment will be recovered within two years. “Having zero returns has added efficiencies,” he says. “We have seen a 30% improvement in total cleanliness from day one. Getting the cleaning process right first time represents a great step forward for ATP.” The real winner is the environment, he added: “The new machines produce zero discharge. It means 100,000 litres of effluent a year will no longer
Cutting through: ATP chairman Alan Smart and Amanda Milling MP be discharged into the local sewerage system.” Supplied by German equipment specialist Durr, the three new machines have replaced a manual system. The core, which is used in the reman processes of a range of products, includes parts for manual and automatic transmissions, torque converters and valve
bodies. Manual cleaning cycles used to take up to one hour. A cleaning cycle now takes just eight minutes, says Smart. The extra capacity looks to be well-timed. There were strong hints from the company that it is closing in on new contracts that will extend its support for a growing number of OE reman programmes.
MECHATRONICS CHANGING REMAN Mechatronics - the integration of electronics into mechanical components to make those components better - is a trend throughout the automotive industry. However, not everyone is poised to capitalise on it, according to a presentation at BigR/ ReMaTecUSA. In a recent survey by the Rochester Institute of Technology, small to medium-sized remanufacturers indicated they see opportunities in areas like surface cleaning technologies, validation and reassembling to original specs. Larger firms see prognostics, electronic life assessment and component restoration as important areas. •Big R/ReMaTecUSA coverage, starts p17
IRP SURVEYS REMAN LANDSCAPE
MERA: reman quality
MERA launches certification programme Reman industry trade group MERA has launched an initiative to help buyers to identify high-quality remanufactured products. The Manufactured Again programme – tied to international standards ISO 9001 and IATF 16949 - allows companies to certify that their reman processes meet quality management standards which are usually associated with OEMs. “Remanufacturing and new manufacturing are both standardised industrial
processes, and both yield high-quality, fullywarranted products,” says MERA president John Chalifoux. “Therefore, it makes sense that the Manufactured Again certification programme is built on quality management standards that can be applied to both new and reman.” Cardone Industries, which remanufactures auto parts, is among the first companies to use the new certification seal on its product packaging.
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The United Nations Environment Programme’s International Resource Panel (IRP) workshop in Berlin was an opportunity for Nabil Nasr of the Rochester Institute of Technology to talk about the objectives of the IRP study which is currently in progress. It is looking at circular production and product life extension practices such as reman, in a bid to see what contribution they make to resource efficiency. There were also presentations from last year’s Remanufacturer of the Year, Søren Toft-Jensen of Borg Automotive – and this year’s winner, Rolf Steinhilper of Bayreuth University. •Navigating the road ahead, p29
ReMaTecNews
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NEWS
FER: COMBUSTION ENGINE ‘HERE TO STAY’ The combustion engine is here to stay, insisted Philip Mitchell from Delphi at the Federation of Engine Remanufacturers’ (FER) annual conference.
He was among a number of speakers discussing various aspects of reman – in his case the future of common rail injectors and how Delphi has utilised developing technology to alter component design to reduce emissions. In other presentations, Reiner Holwein from Motorservice looked at the changing processes and requirements of a number of cylinder sliding surfaces, while Peter Hesham, BTN Turbo sales manager, explained how emissions regulations continue to drive technology and went through some of the key reasons why turbochargers fail, such as oil contamination.
Call to support SMMT report The UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is urging the remanufacturing specialists among its membership to support the production of its annual Sustainability Report by supplying the data it needs to promote the sector. “Remanufacturing has a great story to tell and it’s not just a story about the environmental agenda,” says SMMT aftermarket development manager Peter Lawton. “It’s got great skills and great economics stories to tell as well. The Sustainability Report showcases each company’s work towards its corporate and social responsibilities and the SMMT would love to see more
members with specialist remanufacturing activities contributing to it.” The 2017 report will be published in the middle of next year, so reman companies with relevant information should be getting in touch with SMMT around about now. Details about savings in terms of waste to landfill and energy usage, for example, are ideal and SMMT says it is the kind of data that is likely to be readily at hand for most existing members. The SMMT feels that specialist remanufacturers might be able to add an extra dimension to the data produced. More importantly, they could help to
raise the profile of the reman sector at the same time. l For more information, go to www.smmt.co.uk/contact
BorgWarner sells Remy aftermarket Investment firm Torque Capital has completed its purchase of the North American and European aftermarket business of Remy from BorgWarner. The deal includes the North American light vehicle rotating electrical reman business, and power steering business (Maval Industries), plus the European light and medium duty rotating electrical reman business. The North American rotating electrical business is a market leader in the reman of a full line of domestic and imported starters and alternators
for passenger cars and light duty trucks. The company sells its products under the Remy name as well as a variety of private label brands, manufacturing them in Mexico at San Luis Potosi and Piedras Negras. It distributes them throughout the US, Canada and Mexico from its network of warehouses. Maval is a market leader in the steering and suspension business, serving both aftermarket and OE customers from its facility in Twinsburg, Ohio. Remy Europe also remanufactures rotating electrical products for customers across Europe and North Africa.
Car reg slows in Europe New car registrations in the 29 European markets analysed by JATO Dynamics declined by 0.5% in October compared to the same month last year – although the underlying market remains strong. Sales have an implication for future reman, yet although the figures - 1,140,978 units registered
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– show a decline, they still represent the second highest October registrations since 2009. JATO suggests that the decline can be attributed to there being one less working day in October in several markets and that the drop indicates the market heading towards a peak after months
of consistent growth. Drilling down into the data reveals that SUV sales totalled 302,851 but this was not enough to offset the losses seen in other segments – while the new generation of the Volkswagen Tiguan and Vauxhall Astra posted the biggest market share increases of all models.
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REMANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR
The passion that built a career Rolf Steinhilper has been honoured as the 2016 Remanufacturer of the Year: Fernand Weiland, chairman of the ROTY jury, pays tribute
P
rofessor Rolf Steinhilper is without a doubt one of the top global academic leaders in remanufacturing today. Since 2001, he has been instrumental in the advancement of remanufacturing research at the University Institute on Manufacturing & Remanufacturing and the Fraunhofer Initiative on Process Innovation. I believe Rolf’s work has contributed significantly to the international reputation of remanufacturing in the political, industrial and academic world. Steinhilper was honoured during a ceremony at the 2016 BigR/ReMaTec Show in Las Vegas with the prestigious ReMaTecNews Remanufacturer of the Year Award for his outstanding achievements in the field of reman.
‘Peak of my career’ “This award represents the peak of my career in remanufacturing, which started back in 1982 when I was a young engineer asked to speak at a pioneering conference at the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),” Steinhilper recalls. “I was the only participant from Europe invited to make a presentation on design for remanufacturing. My talk was entitled Remanufacturing: Remaking the Future.” During his long career in remanufacturing, Steinhilper has brought together many teams of expert engineers who have provided R&D support to the manufacturing and remanufacturing industries in Europe and worldwide. These hand-selected teams not only worked on projects for the institutes, but later joined the reman industry and contributed to elevate remanufacturing to even higher levels. “Rolf has allowed the reman industry to share his relevant R&D progress,” said Carsten Bücker, chairman of APRA Europe, who has worked on several projects with the
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institutes. Steinhilper and his engineers have built successful laboratories filled with state-of-the-art equipment. The main processes they have developed are disassembly, cleaning, diagnosis & testing, machining and last, but not least, reassembling.
Enabling technology He recently told me: “I think of remanufacturing as the enabling technology that will bring us to a future of renewable manufacturing and consumption patterns. Renewable power generation like solar and wind energy are booming, and remanufacturing deserves the same attention! That’s why I love and support it with such a passion.” As a young man Steinhilper repaired his father’s car. Now he owns his own garage filled with more than two dozen classic cars - SIMCA/Chryslers, Citroens, Jaguars (model years 1969-79). Some he has already remanufactured, others are waiting to be renovated. In 1987 he delivered Stuttgart University’s first PhD thesis on remanufacturing and received the Doctor of Engineering title for his work, Remanufacturing of Mechanical Engineering Products. He said of this time: “It was an important step, not just for my reman career, but for remanufacturing itself. The scientific community became aware of the importance of remanufacturing and then other European universities started to support it with R&D activities.”
Environmental prize Then in 1993 he was awarded a European environmental prize, presented by the industry for ‘Developing Comprehensive Concepts for Product Recycling and Remanufacturing’. During the ten-year period 2006-16, he initiated six major remanufacturing R&D project consortia with industrial remanufacturing players, all which were supported by
the European Union in Brussels: SIRO, eCleaner, Minimise, ResCom and ERN (European Remanufacturing Network). Working with industry has always been high on his – and his team’s - agenda. Steinhilper believes that academia should remain independent and never take part in activities like lobbying
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REMANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR
“Renewable power generation like solar and wind energy are booming, and remanufacturing deserves the same attention! That’s why I love and support it with such a passion”
- however, due to the high positive impact on the environment he strongly feels that the remanufacturing industry deserves academia’s full support. Rolf Steinhilper is not only a man of research and development. His passion leads him to share his knowledge with the world, which is precisely what drove
him to be a founding member of APRA Europe in 1990 and become a regular exhibitor with his team at the ReMaTec Exhibition in Amsterdam. Always looking to the future, in 2012 he launched the first World Remanufacturing Summit, which was followed by the summits in 2013 in Shanghai, 2014 in Rochester,
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2015 in Amsterdam, 2016 in Beijing – and, soon, in 2017 in Singapore. Congratulations to Rolf upon receiving this most distinguished and deserved award. His academic contributions and social responsibility continue to advance the case for remanufacturing around the world. ReMaTecNews
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THE BIG INTERVIEW
The start of a
journey Xie Jianjun, secretary general of the Remanufacture Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, tells Adam Hill that the Chinese reman industry is set to grow
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isten to Xie Jianjun and you could be in the presence of any enthusiastic reman executive: customer perception, difficulty getting hold of cores and the short lifespan of cars - to name but three issues he talks about – are common enough to all. But Xie, who is secretary general of the Remanufacture Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CPRA), knows that his own industry is at the beginning of a long journey. Reman faces a couple of big problems
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in China: the public does not have much time for its products - partly because the country’s industrial scale and relatively cheap labour force means that brand new, inexpensive parts can rival reman ones. Speaking through an interpreter, Xie explains: “Because the reman industry in China has a short history – it started a decade ago – the most challenging thing is the consumer: we have to build a reman industry that they can trust. This means we need to create a very structured reman market.” He sees two
ways of doing this: in the first place the government needs to support reman and the media needs to help publicise the industry; and secondly, companies themselves must promote their products to the public via events and roadshows. The first of these can be ticked off the list: government support is vital, and the country’s administration is keen to promote the circular economy, spotting an opportunity to create high quality jobs through reman and, at the same time, to demonstrate its environmental credentials.
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THE BIG INTERVIEW
Government support
Growth expectations
The government has approved four remanufacturing industrial demonstration parks – which offer preferential treatment (such as subsidies, tax breaks and access to funds) to companies which invest in them – and these are going to be the engine of reman in China. Speaking to ReMaTecNews before the opening of the latest of these, in the southern city of Wuzhou, Xie said: “The government wants to stimulate demand for reman - for example, if you replace your old parts with reman parts then the government will give you a subsidy.” This ‘Remanufactured for Used Products’ incentive scheme offers customers 10% of the purchase price up to a certain amount. Started last year, the pilot project has been a success, he says. Legislation such as the Circular Economy Promotion Law has also helped. “We have all kinds of approaches in China – but there is more to do, of course,” he smiles. The CPRA was established in 2010, in part to develop closer ties with various industry bodies in other countries, such as the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association (APRA). Yet foreign companies have nothing to fear from China’s increasing interest in reman, he insists. “China’s reman industry is just ten years old,” he points out. “We have a lot to learn from foreign companies: knowledge and experience can be exchanged.” China is also a huge market, he goes on. “If we’re all co-operating, then there’s no threat – instead, it’s an opportunity. There are no barriers to selling in China.” There is certainly some encouragement for western companies to get involved in joint ventures. “Most local Chinese reman companies are not trying to conquer Europe or America,” he insists.
That being the case, how much can reman grow in China? “In the short-term there is no limit,” he insists. “Demand for the gearbox market is predicted to be 400,000 – 500,000, for example. But reman last year only produced 100,000: compare that with the US and EU aftermarket.” He lists again the most important things to allow reman to develop in China. “The first is market acceptance,” he begins. “The potential is so big – but then so are the barriers. Consumers are used to buying new products rather than reman. That means we have to put a lot of effort into teaching the consumer – I’m not so sure this is a big issue in Europe and the US.” He then mentions an issue which will be familiar to everyone in the reman sector. “Also, there is a long-term struggle between reman companies and OE companies,” he continues. “That’s not very easy to solve – especially for the independent reman operators because the space for them in the market is not very big. OE companies get involved and want to reman their own products – that’s a big challenge for independents.” Add this to the fact that the over-production of cheap new products creates a problem for the developing reman industry in China, and you would seem to have some pretty high hurdles to get over. But with the market potential – and government support – Xie’s quiet confidence suggests that it would not be wise to bet against China’s reman sector overcoming those odds. •China on the rise, see p31
“If we’re all co-operating, then there’s no threat – instead, it’s an opportunity: most local Chinese reman companies are not trying to conquer Europe or America” remains a lot of red tape. “There are still restrictions for Chinese players to buy cores from abroad,” Xie acknowledges. “The association is putting in a lot of effort to make things freer in the economy.” Various firms are, at present, negotiating for the import of cores, he says – and economic freedom is going to be a vital part in the success of Chinese reman. But China’s relatively recent industrial development – compared to many more mature markets – gives it some real advantages, he goes on: “In the past few years, the average sales volume increase has been about 30% a year. It’s not that easy in the western world. This is a huge market – that’s how we look at it. But reman only accounts for 2-3% of the market. This is a small proportion compared to Europe and the US.” Opening: Xie (far right) is among the dignitaries unveiling the South China Remanufacturing Base in Wuzhou
Core access Access to cores has been held up by observers as one of the main problems for reman in China. But Xie is sanguine: “There are around 170 million passenger cars on the Chinese market at present, and that is predicted to rise to 250 million by 2020. That’s comparable to the US. So I foresee that the core resource is, in fact, very big. The average age of a car in China is four-and-a-half years – compared with Europe, which is a lot longer.” Companies are gradually being allowed by the government to get their hands on cores, although there Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
ReMaTecNews
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ReMaTec thanks everyone for being part of our story in 2016 A big thank you to our partners, exhibitors, visitors, sponsors, advertisers, media partners and everyone else involved in ReMaTecNews and Big R/ReMaTecUSA, for helping make 2016 such a successful year! See you at ReMaTec Amsterdam on 18 - 20 June 2017!
@ReMaTecShow www.linkedin.com/company/rematec-worldwide www.facebook.com/rematecamsterdam
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Partners:
Happy holidays, see you in 2017! Media partner:
BigR/ReMaTecUSA 2016 SHOW REPORT
Joe Kripli, president of APRA (right) and Bas Dalm, RAI director of international exhibitions, open the show
Las Vegas welcomes the
WORLD OF REMAN
R
eMaTecNews was in Las Vegas for the Big R/ReMaTecUSA 2016 show, gathering news and interviews from the exhibition floor in print and online. And as Denise Rondini reports over the next few pages, there was a lot for reman to shout about at the reman industry event of North America, which attracts companies and visitors from all over the world. In addition to the products and services unveiled on the stands, there was a packed seminar programme featuring presentations from industry leaders at the ReMaTec Theater.
Much of what was said is good news for reman – but there was also a clear identification of the challenges which the industry faces. While the sector is definitely on a growth track, according to Mike Rayne of FTI Consulting, companies still struggle with questions of intellectual property issues and all-makes parts schemes. BigR/ReMaTecUSA keynote speaker Bogi Lateiner, star of Velocity TV’s All Girls Garage, explained what reman firms need to do to secure their futures and emphasised the importance of quality. In a sign of the shifting
tectonic plates in global reman, there was significant representation from China in the form of Xie Jianjun, secretary general, Reman Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, who outlined how fast the domestic industry is growing. Joe Kripli of APRA shared his thoughts on how this could affect reman in other territories. Elsewhere, mechatronics, additive manufacturing and the changing face of cleaning were all covered, along with practical ideas on how to use the internet to sell your reman parts - and your business offering as a whole.
China started late - but is catching up fast There is a strong opportunity for growth of remanufacturing in China. That was the consensus during a session in the ReMaTec Theater covering recent developments in remanufacturing in the Chinese market. Xie Jianjun, secretary general, Reman Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said the Chinese automotive market is developing rapidly
and that there was a big increase this year in the number of vehicles produced. He expects to see an increase in vehicle production every year going forward. “Although we started late,” he said, “we will see fast growth of components for remanufacturing and an increased interest in remanufacturing.” Jun Wei, managing director of Hejian
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Development and Reman Commission, Hebei Province of China, was on hand to introduce Hejian’s Reman Center to BigR/ReMaTecUSA show attendees. This is an economic zone approved by regulatory agencies for recycling and remanufacturing operations. She said the centre is a one-stop location for custom inspection and clearance.
•The Big Interview, see p14-15
ReMaTecNews
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BigR/ReMaTecUSA 2016 SHOW REPORT
CORE CHALLENGES The next seven years should be good for remanufacturers as the global vehicle population continues to age and there remains to be a 30% to 35% differential between the cost of new products and remanufactured ones.
During a presentation titled Market Outlook: Understanding the Future Demand for Remanufactured Parts, Joe Kripli, president of the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association, shared insights from American consultancy firm, Frost & Sullivan on the future of remanufacturing. The US is expected to lose reman market share as countries like China step up their remanufacturing operations - in fact, the Chinese remanufacturing market is expected to double between 2015 and 2022. The increased use of electronic components is becoming prominent in vehicles across the globe and will be a growth area for remanufacturers. And while the growth in global remanufacturing looks good, there will continue to be challenges with logistics, cores and legislation. Not all markets are free of trade restrictions and unless those restrictions are overcome, remanufacturing could suffer in certain parts of the world.
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Additive manufacturing: more than 3D printing While a lot of attention is focused on 3D printing, it is not the only additive manufacturing process available to remanufacturers. In a presentation on additive manufacturing, Michael Haselkorn from the Rochester Institute of Technology also talked about thermal spraying, cold spray, and laser-engineered net shaping. Thermal spray is the oldest form of additive manufacturing and is a group of processes that utilise a heat source to melt material in a powder or wire form and then spray it onto surfaces at high velocity. It can be used to coat cylinder heads and for surface restoration. Cold spray takes powders and accelerates them at very high speed so that as they hit the surface they deform and adhere to the surface. Since no heat is used in this process, it is good for use with aluminum components. According to Haselkorn, 3D printing has been gravitating toward plastics: “Metal 3D printing has not taken off.” He adds: “I don’t think the hype of 3D printing will eclipse regular remanufacturing.” He reminded the audience that most additive manufacturing processes, including 3D printing, still require the part to be machined prior to use. The fused deposition model is the most common form of 3D printing in use. In this process a
string of plastic goes through a heater where it melts and then builds up a surface. There is also Selective Laser Sintering, a process that uses a laser to sinter powdered material and bind materials together. Haselkorn said that although the process is expensive the result is better surface finishes and dimensions. Laserengineered net shaping uses a laser beam and a metal powder to build up a surface. Haselkorn says this process results in parts with excellent mechanical and fatigue properties and is used to build up surfaces and for dimensional restoration of cast iron. Costs for additive manufacturing range from $25,000 to $700,000 depending on the process selected.
Optimising parts cleaning is way forward One of the big cost drivers and concerns in remanufacturing is cleaning, but according to Michael Haselkorn, from the research faculty of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, most of the time cleaning is done the way it always has been and not on knowledge. “There is great opportunity for optimisation and innovation in the cleaning process,” he told an audience during his presentation, Clean Up: Evolving Parts Cleaning Technology. He said that some remanufacturers are cleaning parts as many as four times
during the remanufacturing process. Haselkorn explained that there are chemical, mechanical and thermal cleaning methods and that before deciding how to clean a part remanufacturers should answer these questions:
•What is the part? •What is the geometry of the part?
•What is its value? •Is it worth cleaning? One thing to consider is where in the reman process cleaning takes place. “Push cleaning to the front because
the cleaner you get the parts prior to disassembly the better you can see if the part can be remanufactured, plus the teardown will be faster and the [disassembly] work area will be cleaner,” he said. Haselkorn says a lot of research has been done on other areas of remanufacturing, but not on cleaning and while “many people think the cleaning process is inexpensive, if you consider the number of times you clean, the cost of chemicals, the environmental concerns and the fact that it is a non-value added operation, it can be costly”.
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BigR/ReMaTecUSA 2016 SHOW REPORT
Reman on growth track The remanufacturing industry is on a growth track, according to Mike Rayne of FTI Consulting. He said during his presentation that the industry is comfortable from a technology standpoint but is struggling with intellectual property issues, the number of steps in the distribution process, the franchise model/buying groups and the growth of all-makes parts programmes. Given the age of vehicles, he sees the biggest opportunity in the US market but that will move to Europe and then to Asia Pacific as vehicles in those areas start getting older. He sees Asia
Pacific as the single biggest market opportunity - but not until 2025. He believes reman presents opportunities for both OEs and the independents as the reman industry tries to match itself to vehicle content. He sees partnerships between OEs and independents developing. “Firms who want to offer a full reman product line need to ask themselves if it makes sense to do it themselves or to supplement with partnerships?” He added: “OEs have the intellectual property but independents have the reach.” He told attendees during his presentation, Remanufacturing
Industry Disruption: The Trends and Opportunities, to look at what fails - and at what point - in a vehicle’s life cycle in order to launch a remanufactured product at the right time in the vehicle’s life. “Twenty years ago the opportunity was in chassis components, steering and suspensions — low tech stuff. But today vehicles have a higher technology content having gone from one engine control unit (ECU) 20 years ago to 37 on the average vehicle today.” The product lines where he sees growth are exhaust aftertreatment and turbochargers.
CONDITIONS IN EUROPE ‘GOOD’ Approximately 85% of European remanufacturers are small-sized companies, according to Clemens Ortgies, president of FIRM. In fact, only 5% of remanufacturers have more than 100 employees, he explained during his presentation in the ReMaTec Theater. He says the conditions in Europe are good for remanufacturers because cars are getting older and the number of cars per family is rising - but the European automotive market faces emissions restrictions. Ortgies explained that emissions regulations have to be met throughout the life of the vehicle and that engine remanufacturers are responsible for guaranteeing emissions levels in their products. In addition, after 20 years, parts cannot be remanufactured and must be purchased new.
Pictures: Motor a Diesel
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ReMaTecNews
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BigR/ReMaTecUSA 2016 SHOW REPORT
Using e-commerce to grow reman business Online selling allows you to cast a wider net, said Dennis Jacinto of YouTech Group, speaking along with Omar Cueto of L & J Diesel Service about how e-commerce can be used in a reman business. Amazon and eBay are two sites being used by remanufacturers, but if you choose to use those sites rather than selling from your own site, you must “play by the rules they have established”, Jacinto said. He also said that there are differences between the two sites in areas like setup costs, product pricing,
stability, feedback, sale price and shipping. He reminded session attendees that Amazon has fixed prices and eBay is an auction site where users are looking to make purchases at the lowest price. With regard to stability, he explained that Amazon rarely changes its policies and procedures but eBay is known to make major changes every year. When it comes to shipping, there are standard shipping charges with Amazon while shipping costs are variable on eBay. Reviews by customers are important, Cueto said, especially those
Bogi Lateiner, 120 Degrees Automotive Q How important is perception in the buying process?
A Whether perception is accurate or not, it is everything. If the perception of your business is bad, there is fall out. You can’t find employees, you can’t make money, no one trusts you, and you are not well respected.
Q What were the findings of your informal poll on how remanufactured parts are viewed? A OE parts, new aftermarket parts, remanufactured parts, used parts are the order of perceived parts quality for
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concerning how users ship and handle returns. Reviews seem to be more important on eBay than on Amazon. Cueto said to encourage users who have had a good experience with your company to post a review – so consider sending a review invitation via text message. He added: “People think if you sell online you will do well. The truth is that it has its challenges.” One of them is the fact that neither Amazon nor eBay recognises cores. Cueto says he drives customers to a dead-end page so they can provide information about cores. Both
replacement. That is not necessarily accurate, but it is the perception. Q What advice would you give to remanufacturers? A Remember your competition is not just other remanufacturers. It is new and used parts too. You need to manager perceptions. You have to show the value and benefit of your products. Q What role does quality play in the buying decision? A Quality is the baseline. Let me use this analogy: would you go to a restaurant if its only claim to fame is you won’t get sick if you eat there? No, that is a given. The same is true for remanufacturing. Quality is a no brainer. You need to differentiate yourself and eliminate the customer’s pain. What is the warranty on a remanufactured part?
Jacinto and Cueto pointed out that in a dispute between you and a customer, most of the time eBay and Amazon will side with the customer. Cueto added that you have to constantly improve your efforts with online sales and make changes according to market conditions. Cueto has been quite successful with selling parts on line and said that 70% of his sales are currently coming through e-commerce adding that his company sells off its own site as well. “There is no commission and you get the best margins,” he concluded.
Do you have a labour claim process? Capitalise on the green nature of reman. Q Any final thoughts? A If we raise the bar, our competitors will rise to meet us or they will go out of business. Be the high tide not the anchor. You have a choice to be part of what makes the change and elevates the reputation of the industry and changes perceptions.
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VOX POP
The land of plenty? The big question we put to people in this issue was whether they agreed that China is an opportunity - not a threat - for reman. The answer was overwhelming…
Yan Wang, senior lecturer, University of Brighton
Jens Uhl, head of reman, ZF Services “We expect China to become the biggest-growing market for remanufactured products in the Asia Pacific region. China sees the importance of reman as part of an environmental protection and promotes sustainable business by concession contracts. After gaining the China remanufacturing licence in 2013, ZF established a centre in which to remanufacture automatic passenger car transmissions and mechatronics for its customers. Remanufactured parts offer the same quality standards as volume production components and an optimal cost/benefit ratio. The reman working group of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has a sub-group in China, headed by local ZF management, which promotes all these advantages because there is still a kind of uncertainty about the quality of reman products.”
•The Big Interview, p14 •China on the rise, p30
“Remanufacturing in China has the fastest growth rate and could be the largest remanufacturing market in the whole world. With comprehensive support from government, including policy and financial incentives, establishment of a certification system and the development of standards, reman in China will take off in the near future and play an important role in the world remanufacturing community. The rapidly-growing domestic market presents massive investment opportunities in China. Meanwhile, some leading Chinese remanufacturers are starting to invest abroad: Europe and the US are the main destinations for investment. This will allow resources to be organised globally and pour much-needed investment into infrastructure and training of staff as well as global supply chain management and business modes which are essential for the uptake of remanufacturing in western countries. The investment from China to western countries in remanufacturing will create good job opportunities and achieve environmental gains in these countries.”
Xie Jinguan, secretary general, Remanufacture Committee of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers “China’s reman industry is just ten years old. We have a lot to learn from foreign companies: knowledge and experience can be exchanged. If we’re all co-operating, then there’s no threat – instead, it’s an opportunity. There are no barriers to selling in China. Most local Chinese reman companies are not trying to conquer Europe or America.”
Shi Peijing, vice director, National Key Laboratory for Remanufacturing “China has a big potential market and the reman industry can grow very rapidly. We are trying to get more contact with colleagues in Europe and America – they certainly see it as an opportunity. Maybe it won’t develop like traditional industries such as steel or new cars, but we must have competition – we’re all on the same planet, after all!”
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ReMaTecNews
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COMPANY PROFILE
No substitute for
experience
Pictures: Rogier Bos
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After 99 years in reman, Dutch firm De Sutter has a pretty clear idea of what it’s doing. Adam Hill talks to its boss Jean-Paul Borsten about the past, present and future Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
COMPANY PROFILE
N
ext year, Dutch reman firm De Sutter will be celebrating its 100th birthday. It is a proud time for current boss Jean-Paul Borsten and several events are planned for 2017. He is the third generation of his family to lead the business and it is immediately apparent that his passion for the job – with its mix of reman work on internal combustion engines and compressors for commercial vehicles, cars, boats, agriculture and heavy industry - is undimmed. In person, Borsten is good company: he has a very dry humour and something of the directness for which the Dutch are famed. His grandfather started the firm way back in 1917 and it would be no surprise if G.P. de Sutter were a similar character to his grandson. Continuity is certainly important to this company – and to this family. Back then the firm also had a garage business called De Sutter Automobielbedrijf, was based in Rotterdam, and had a dealership for US truck manufacturer Willis Knight. In the late 1950s the company moved to Nieuwerkerk and two decades later Borsten’s parents (he has a Belgian mother – hence the first name) took over Motorenfabriek De Sutter to continue the family line.
Baby steps Borsten’s own first steps in the company were baby ones. “There are pictures of me aged five or six, running through the workshop,” he laughs. He started in earnest – sweeping the floors – when he was 12 or 13 years old. Didn’t he want to be out running around with his mates? “No,” he says immediately. “It’s fun! Reman is a lot of different trades in one trade: it offers a variety of craftmanships.” This early start in the business also gave him an appreciation of what is required in the world of work. “The most important thing is that you have to work for everything you do,” he says. “Nothing comes easily. Hard work is – how do you call it? – a virtue.” Carsten Bücker, chairman of APRA Europe, told ReMaTecNews about how reman was part of breakfast in his house growing up. Borsten laughs in recognition at this: his childhood was the same. “Yes, definitely – and it means you’re used to thinking of solutions,” he recalls. “I remember in fifth grade of primary school, when I was about ten years old, giving a lecture in class about combustion engines. I don’t ➤
“Reman is always about change: nothing is ever the same. I am more than sure there will always be room for what we do”
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ReMaTecNews
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COMPANY PROFILE
➤
remember anything else about it – except the teacher being surprised.” He has his own children now, aged nine and 16, but is not sure that they will necessarily be following in his footsteps. “Times change,” he smiles. “The 16-year old is very into tablets and PCs – a normal teenager!” Both are doing some work in the company, but Borsten observes: “The world for them is much bigger than it was for us. It’s possible that they won’t carry on.”
happy enough to continue as things are. “We’re a small company,” he says. “Or perhaps a little bit towards the mediumsize.” Customers like this aspect of De Sutter, he thinks. “The attraction is that you have up close and personal contact with clients. And to have good quality
Up close and personal In 2012 the company moved to a modern premises in Zevenhuizen. It has eight staff, six of whom are in the 1,000 sq m workshop there, and Borsten seems
control you have to be working with small quantities and have a direct line for questions.” Expansion may come. “The ideal at this location would perhaps be 12-14 people,” he continues. “That’s a possibility but only time will tell. Good quality sells itself. Sometimes you have to say ‘no’ to new clients because you have to help your old clients.” Turning work down goes against the grain for all business people and must be very hard to do. “Yes,” he answers shortly. Staff loyalty is also something the company values. “Most of the staff have been here for a long time,” Borsten confirms. Perhaps they are attracted by the sheer number of jobs they are required to do - they need to be able to work on anything from a
“Talking about mergers doesn’t sit comfortably with my ideas of quality control. I see companies helping each other but perhaps we are used to doing everything. I don’t know”
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COMPANY PROFILE
one-litre lawnmower engine right up to a V12 industrial engine. “The work is very varied,” he adds. “It could be an engine from 1920 or one from 2016. Very few days are the same. It’s a good workplace.”
Crisis management The company’s output is split between the domestic Netherlands market (about 60%), the rest of Europe (10%) and the rest of the world (30%). “A lot goes to Africa,” he explains. “It is reman, or reman-related, and includes selling reman parts.” Interestingly, for a company which is so well-established, De Sutter is relaxed about what is on its books. “We don’t know what’s happening next week,” he laughs. “In January, for example, at the moment we will be ‘problem solving’.” But experience tells him that his staff will never be short of work: customers need things doing and know above all that De Sutter will be there for them. Reputations like this are not made overnight – which probably explains why the company has been successfully trading for a century. “You have a car, a crane, an engine, a boat – and then suddenly it stops,” Borsten says. “At that moment, the client needs something to fall back on.” And that something is De Sutter – which explains why Borsten prefers a free-flowing approach to work, rather than a rigid plan. “We plan about 20%,” he says. “The other 80% is crisis management.” Surely, if customers are coming to you in dire need, then that gives the company a golden opportunity to inflate its prices? “Can we charge more?” Borsten says. “No comment!” Projects are always custommade but the company has put all of its activities into a simple-to-understand, fixed-price structure, which means that customers know up front what they will be paying. “It is easy for us to do this,” he goes on. “To be open and plain in pricing is important. Then the client knows what they are getting into.” As the third-generation owner of a family business, Borsten is aware of history – and, perhaps, of obligations which stretch back to a time before he was born. He explains: “We have a long-term commitment to our clients.” You can say that again: one valued customer, a Mercedes-Benz dealer, has been with De Sutter for 84 years. That is, for most people, more than a lifetime. But for De Sutter it is simply normal. Yet such values
do not seem to be in tune with the prevailing reality of life in 2016. Borsten is actively involved in promoting reman as the chairman of trade association BOVAG’s reman department, and is well aware that one of the major themes in the remanufacturing industry this year is consolidation.
Quality control Mergers and acquisitions are the current vogue as a fragmented sector tries to adapt to altered times and difficult market conditions. Borsten must have had financial offers for De Sutter – but if so he is very tight-lipped about them. Instead he offers words of caution. “Co-operation is always good,” he says carefully. “But
talking about mergers – that doesn’t sit comfortably with my ideas of quality control. I see companies helping each other but perhaps we are used to doing everything. I don’t know.” But what about the idea that reman companies must band together in order to survive as the winds of change blow the industry? “Reman is always about change,” he counters. “Nothing is ever the same. I am more than sure there will always be room for what we do.” Nonetheless, circumstances which are beyond the control of individual companies can have a major impact on day-to-day business – for example, what about that bombshell story of 2016, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union? Borsten is not to be drawn. “I’m not sure about Brexit,” he muses. “Directly, there will be no problem. We have a few suppliers in England but it depends what the pound is going to do. I don’t think other countries will leave.”
Over the shop
De Sutter through the years 1917: Engine reman business, Motorenfabriek de Sutter, founded by Jean-Paul Borsten’s grandfather, G.P. de Sutter 1921: He opens De Sutter Automobielbedrijf garage 1920s: Company becomes dealer for Willis Knight trucks and distributor for Donnet cars 1950s: Dealer of small truck brand Nemo 1963: Business relocates to new site at Nieuwerkerk 1967: Benelux distributor for Kohler engines 1979: Business taken over by husband-and-wife team Jan Borsten and Wil Borsten-De Sutter 2012: Their son Jean-Paul succeeds them and company moves to Zevenhuizen
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Borsten gets to work at 7am but is home at 6pm “for dinner with the wife and kids”. In the evening he might pop back to the office to finish something off or simply do paperwork from home: the company’s bespoke back office applications are synced with his Windows phone. “It gives us more, and faster, control over our processes,” he says. “You can see if certain work takes longer or whether price quotes are still valid. It makes us more instantly on top of things – and gives me more time to be involved.” Because Borsten lives ‘over the shop’, like any family business owner, he can be forgiven for taking time to unwind in his leisure time. “I like sailing,” he says. “And I like restoring classic cars.” In the latter case, Borsten’s work is truly his passion: many classic car enthusiasts come to De Sutter because they know that such specialised – and old-fashioned – crafts such as the casting of bearings or manufacturing head gaskets are part of the firm’s daily activities. If Borsten retired, you sense that he would simply use the time to do more messing about in boats or tinkering around with temperamental engines. But retirement is not on the horizon: “No! I’m still young. I still have a lot of time left.” You can see his point: Borsten is only in his forties. His father was 78 when he stopped working in the business. Clearly, at De Sutter, age is not a barrier to success. ReMaTecNews
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ITC, DD295 4x4 Transfer, Drive Shaft, Range Rover The OEM early version (in use until 2011) is no longer available. Aftermarket early – and OEM late – are now in stock. Seasons Greetings to all our customers!
t: +44 (0)1934 852772 em: info@jpat.co.uk www.jpat.co.uk Units 4a & 4b Pear Tree Ind. Estate, Upper Langford, North Somerset, BS40 5DJ, England
MEGA_90x133+3mm.indd 1
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NOTES & COMMENT
Best of
VIEWPOINT
‘We must align our common definition of reman with companies in non-automotive industries’ Peter Bartel
I
n 2009, at one of my very early Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association (APRA) European board meetings, we discussed how the association could best support the development of the remanufacturing industry whilst taking into account the lack of awareness of our industry within European governments, political circles and especially, the political decision makers. Around this time the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) of China had started with the first round of licenses for reman in China and we were also hearing about the growth of automotive remanufacturing in Latin America. The outcome of this meeting was a commitment to raise the profile of remanufacturing in Europe and to promote the commercial, social and ecological benefits of our industry. The initial challenge was to address the inconsistencies with definitions and wording used in publications that existed within our industry. We recognised the need to have a common definition so that our message was clear when we were seeking
support. With many different products and a variety of stakeholders from industry, foundations and associations, this was no easy task especially when the global remanufacturing footprint was also rapidly expanding. In this context, achieving a common definition for automotive remanufacturing which has been underwritten by APRA, FIRM (engine remanufacturing industry in Europe), CLEPA (European automotive parts suppliers), MERA (large automotive remanufacturing industry in the US), CPRA (automotive remanufacturing industry in China) and ANRAP (Brazilian automotive remanufacturing industry) and published in September 2016 - was a historic event and a solid foundation for the future of our industry. Today, automotive remanufacturing
is now recognised and on the political agenda of decision makers in government - and it is also regarded as the catalyst for further development of the entire remanufacturing industry. We have to maintain our profile over the forthcoming years and seek to align our definition with remanufacturers from the non-automotive industries. We are grateful for your continued support in our quest.
Peter Bartel, marketing/engineering director, Circular Economy Solutions Got a viewpoint to share with us? Email editorial@rematecnews.com
the Blog Do diesel passenger cars have a future? A year on from the Volkswagen emission scandal, speculation is growing about the life-span of diesel engines, fuelled by rumours that Norway is planning to ban all diesel engine passenger cars by 2025 – with other European countries potentially
following suit. But how realistic is it to carry out such a scheme, and what impact will the elimination of diesel passenger cars have on the turbo aftermarket? In contrast, the UK government has set policies in place to push low emission vehicles – which includes diesel passenger cars. It would be much more difficult to implement an outright ban in the UK as the population is considerably larger, with a bigger diesel passenger car parc. Despite a push on low emission vehicles, air pollution remains a hot topic in the UK and as the country prepares to leave the European Union there needs to be clarity on what is going to happen to current air pollution policies. When the government pushed diesel cars in the early 2000s, it knew there would be a negative effect on air pollution, but believed it would be vastly outweighed by the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. • Go to www.rematec.com/ blogs for more ReMaTecNews
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NOTES & COMMENT
Trump v Reman: the NAFTA flashpoint
Joe Murphy CE100 Business Network manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Q What is the CE100 Business Network?
A It’s the entry point for companies who are intrigued by the circular economy. About half of the members are big businesses and the rest are made up of small businesses, universities, government, NGOs and other stakeholders. It is a framework for value creation, providing insight, education, networking and
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New face in the White House: but what will 'Trump effect' be on reman?
© Michael Vadon: CC-BY-SA-4.0
U
S president-elect Donald J. Trump is about to get his feet under the desk in the Oval Office. Remanufacturing is among the industries looking anxiously at his past record to see which of his policies are likely to affect them. As he has never held a governmental position before, there is little to go on apart from “Build the wall!” and “Lock her up!”, the two most memorable slogans from Trump’s election rallies. He has talked about keeping US jobs in the US rather than losing them to lower-cost overseas markets - but while the offshoring of operations in cheaper countries is common in mass production, it is less so in reman. However, Trump has frequently criticised the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – which links the US, Canada and Mexico - and has said he will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on his first day in office. The TPP, a 12-nation trade pact designed to liberalise the flow of goods among countries in the Pacific Rim, including Japan and Vietnam, may not be such a big deal for reman. Although signed, it has never been ratified. “I think he will kill the TPP but that didn’t do very much for reman anyway,” APRA president Joe Kripli tells ReMaTecNews. But NAFTA is very different. “One
thing NAFTA has allowed us is freedom of moving cores across borders,” he continues. “If NAFTA goes, there will have to be a lot more bargaining with customs authorities. Taking that away would hurt.” Another potential concern for reman is the Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act, signed into law last year by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. It requires the head of each Federal agency to encourage the use of reman vehicle components to maintain agency vehicles, if using them reduces cost while maintaining quality. But isn’t telling people what they can and cannot buy
prototyping of new business models, where groups work on collaborative projects: at the moment about 75% of members are involved in 13 projects, which go on for six to 12 months. Q How important is reman to the network? A There is a cascaded approach to the circular economy, with sharing, re-use, reman, component harvesting and recycling. Reman has a big part to play at the component and product level and the mobility sector is ahead in reman. Renault have a reman plant in France which in 2013
the sort of government intervention that Trump is against? “No, I think it plays right into his thinking about lowering the cost of government,” counters Kripli. “He is very much for that. I don’t see him touching the Act.” Yet Trump is, in effect, a blank canvas. He has already cooled on the idea of a) physically separating the US from Mexico; and b) imprisoning his election opponent Hillary Clinton. This means there may be room for reman to manoeuvre on NAFTA, for example. As Kripli concludes: “Reality is hitting and he’s thinking: ‘I’ve got to negotiate delicately down these avenues’.”
was the most profitable site across their whole portfolio. The airline industry remans a large number of components. Reman is one of the core pillars of the circular economy. Q How can reman firms get involved with you? A CE100 is a formal programme of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and we are constantly open to new businesses joining. In a more informal capacity, there is a lot of content which people can access. We have an online magazine, Circulate, and we are always looking for examples of people applying circular economy thinking
in their businesses. The Foundation is not-for-profit: we want to be a reference point for all good practice. joe.murphy@ ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
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NOTES & COMMENT
Navigating the road ahead Remanufacturer of the Year Rolf Steinhilper has a lifetime of experience in reman: in a presentation at the United Nations’ International Resource Panel he reflects on what the future holds
S
peaking at an International Resource Panel (IRP) workshop in Berlin, Rolf Steinhilper of the University of Bayreuth outlined where automotive reman is now, the challenges remanufacturers are going to face going forward – and what issues they are already dealing with.
Competitors in the Spare Parts Business Numbers 500.000
? ?
Sales of New Cars
400.000 300.000
Sales of Spare Parts (Engines, Gearboxes, etc.)
200.000 Presence in the Market 100.000
REMANUFACTURED PARTS NEW PARTS „COPIED PARTS“ 6
Start of Production
End of Production
12
USED PARTS 15
Timeline [Years]
OEMs OESs Market Players
“It seems that remanufacturing will be among the winners and expensive new parts might be among the losers”
IAM: Independent Aftermarket Remanufacturers „Pirates“ (?) 11
UP
Chair Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Technology
New Reasons for Early End of Car Lives … … Require Remanufacturing to Avoid …
technologies to handle electronic hardware. But more and more also software competencies, to understand and test mechatronic components being remanufactured.”
Software competencies
Navigation ABS
Steering
(Accidental Total Damage)
So much is changing in reman. “Software competencies will become a key issue,” Steinhilper says. “Prices for new spare parts like electrically-assisted steerings, turbo chargers, instrument clusters and steerable LED headlights can exceed the remaining market value of a small car which is seven years old - or older – leading to a decision to scrap the car too early. Remanufactured parts are affordable and help to keep the car alive longer.” Another major change for remanufacturers is coming with the advent of driverless vehicles, whose technology is fast approaching the consumer market. “By 2020, self-driving cars - capable of driving autonomously from a highway entrance to a highway exit - will be on the market,” he goes on. “The remanufacturing of their components will require extremely high standards of quality, reliability and
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! Turbo-Charger
BAYREUTH UNIVERSITY
Spare Part Price
“Competition in the spare parts supply business comes in two dimensions,” he explains. “The first dimension is the nature of the spare parts themselves: new, remanufactured, copied (perhaps counterfeited) and used. The second one is the character of the market players: OEMs, OESs, remanufacturers, ‘pirates’ and used parts dealers (both professional and private – for example, via ebay).” The chronological sequence of their appearances in both dimensions during the 15-20 year time line of a car´s life cycle in the market is listed in the slide above. “It is difficult to predict who will gain market share and to what extent. But it seems that remanufacturing will be among the winners and expensive new parts might be among the losers.” One thing is for sure: remanufacturers will have to learn new skills as the move towards mechatronics and electronics gathers pace. “There is a clear trend from classic car components (engines, gearboxes, starter, alternators, clutches and so on) towards electronic and mechatronic components - such as electronic engine controls, electricallyassisted steerings, electronicallycontrolled turbo chargers, common rail injectors and other such components) to be remanufactured,” he says. “This requires many new remanufacturing
BAYREUTH UNIVERSITY
UNEP International Resource Panel Stakeholder Workshop Berlin, Germany, October 10, 2016
Car Value
Dimensions of competition
Professional and Private Commerce (ebay!)
Years … Electronical Total Damage
UNEP International Resource Panel Stakeholder Workshop Berlin, Germany, October 10, 2016
UP
Chair Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Technology
safety.” However, there is no doubt that automotive reman can face this challenge: it only has to look at the current example of reman in the aviation industry. “It will be managed, because already today our reliable airliners consist of a wide range of remanufactured components,” Steinhilper points out. •The passion that built a career, p12 Professor Rolf Steinhilper, Bayreuth University, and Remanufacturer of the Year 2016
ReMaTecNews
29
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COVER STORY: CHINA
China on the rise A
t the World Remanufacturing Summit in Bejing in May this year, delegates heard that China’s business environment is not the most conducive to core collection and reverse logistics and that there is a general lack of acceptance of reman products from domestic consumers. It is fair to say that these issues remain in China as 2016 draws to a close. But what potential there is in this vast country: total output value of the remanufacturing sector in China was estimated to be ¥150 billion (€17.6 billion) in 2015 – but Shi Peijing, vice director of the country’s National Key Laboratory for Remanufacturing, believes this could quadruple by 2020. By comparison, the European Remanufacturing Network estimates the current size of the European reman industry to be just under €30 billion, with predicted growth
With a nascent reman sector backed by the government, China is attempting to make the most of its huge market. Adam Hill reports on how the country’s leading reman figures view progress to €90 billion by 2030. ReMaTecNews was invited to attend the official opening of the South China Remanufacturing Base, situated within the Wuzhou Industrial Park for Processing Imported Recyclables, which lies a few hours’ drive from the southern metropolis of Guangzhou - China’s third city after Beijing and Shanghai. The unveiling ceremony was a chance to take stock of where reman in China is at present – and where leading figures in the country’s industry think it will go in the future.
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
While a relatively young sector – its genesis in China can be traced back to the 1990s - it now only trails the US and European Union as a remanufacturing powerhouse. Spotting an opportunity to create good quality jobs, the Chinese government is fully behind reman and is helping with various incentives and subsidies, including relaxing trading rules for companies which operate from one of four remanufacturing industrial demonstration parks – Wuzhou is the latest - which it has so far approved.
ReMaTecNews
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➤
COVER STORY: CHINA
Wuzhou is the site of the latest reman demonstration park
The paperwork is finished at the Wuzhou signing ceremony
➤ These newly-constructed parks are aimed
Barriers to reman in China Apart from sluggish consumer acceptance of reman as a concept in China, there a few policy barriers which may be putting a brake on the industry. In his report, Remanufacturing Mission to China, Yan Wang of the University of Brighton identified the following this year: End-of-life automotive components such as engines, steering parts, gearboxes and front and rear axles must be treated as waste and sent for recycling rather than being remanufactured l Remanufactured auto components are not allowed to be used to service in-warranty vehicles, thus the market for remanufactured auto components is limited to the after-sale market. This has restricted the availability of cores although it is expected this law will be changed in the near future l China currently prohibits the import and export of core and remanufactured products, which has undermined the development of the remanufacturing sector l Another issue has been the over- production of similar components which are sold at very low prices l
In FTZs, imported cores can be remanufactured on condition that they must be exported and not sold in the Chinese domestic market.
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www.ReMaTec.com
at foreign investors as well as domestic ones, and complement the government’s existing Free-Trade Zones (FTZs) in China. While far from an economic freefor-all, they represent a more relaxed approach to doing business with the rest of the world – something that observers feel will be essential for expansion.
Environmental credentials As leading reman researcher Liang Xiubing pointed out at the Sino-European Remanufacturing Forum which followed the Wuzhou facility opening, 70% of environmental pollution comes from manufacturing and therefore reman (which saves 60% of energy and 70% of raw materials) is part of what the Chinese call “building an ecological civilisation”. For a country which is keen to establish its environmental credentials, this is important – not to mention the fact that reman creates employment in a country with a large labour market, and helps to secure resources. The Japanese feel that reman in China is “a sunrise industry which has a long way to go”, says Otomo Kazuyoshi of Tokyobased auto parts reman group Broadleaf Co. But it is advancing fast: China is a rapidly-growing consumer economy. Individual car ownership in the country climbed above that of Japan as recently as 2010, for example, but was more than double by 2015. This would seem to bode well for future reman. In 2009 the government passed the Circular Economy Promotion law, which emphasised the importance of reman. The national strategy China Manufacturing 2025 contains reman elements, and 2015’s ‘old for reman’ pilot scheme - in which companies received a discount for using reman parts as replacements – is
a demonstration of intent. The Chinese Academy of Engineering says it is involved with successful reman projects in aviation and oil/petrol as well as the automotive industry. Regulation comes from two Chinese government ministries: the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Two programmes Remanufacturing Pilot Enterprises (RPEs) and MIIT Remanufactured Product List (RPL) – have been launched, with RPEs having to demonstrate that they have the necessary capacity and competence to be given official approval, and the RPL scheme aimed at ensuring that the finish of remanufactured products is of a sufficiently high quality.
Foreign involvement Some foreign companies are well ahead of the curve when it comes to seeing what China has to offer in terms of reman. For example, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co was established as long ago as December 2005 and remanufactures engine components such as oil pumps, water pumps, cylinder heads and cylinder packs and fuel injectors. As well as Caterpillar, Daimler-Benz has taken up space at facilities, while ZF Aftermarket’s A reman ‘robot’ at the Wuzhou facility
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
COVER STORY: CHINA
local organisation ZF Services (China) Co, has gained a remanufacturing licence from NDRC to establish its reman centre in Shanghai, working on automatic passenger car transmissions and mechatronics. The idea is that it will also have the capacity to remanufacture nonZF components. Representatives from automotive manufacturers were invited to the table from the beginning in order to help shape the processes and the transfer of individual know-how successfully: the company says this close collaboration
The Japanese feel that reman in China is “a sunrise industry which has a long way to go” was the key to securing its supply of cores as well as remanufactured transmissions. Initial efforts have focused on the 6, 8 and 9HP transmissions installed in BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Audi models in China. Such activity – both from within and outside China
- suggests that there is no shortage of interest in reman here, and that this is going to be a sector which will only attract more attention in future. Indeed, delegates at the Wuzhou reman forum suggested that the only thing holding back Chinese reman was red tape. “It’s restricted by laws, rules and regulations,” commented one company executive. “If that can be solved then there’s no limit.” So it is true that this ‘sunrise industry’ of China’s may well have a long way to go – but it is definitely starting to hot up.
Shanghai reman: ZF is one of several foreign companies to enter China
From laboratory to factory floor: the potential of reman in China “The government is positive and encouraging,” says Shi Peijing, vice director of the National Key Laboratory for Remanufacturing. But he would like to see more done: for example, there is at present no requirement for government departments to purchase reman parts, although there are plans for this. Also, despite a relaxation of trading conditions in some areas, import/export restrictions on cores are hampering the industry somewhat.
Core problem The main problem is that cores are often seen as waste products rather than engineering opportunities. “If we can break the barriers to
cores it could be good for the industry,” says Shi. Founded in 2003, the laboratory is a hotbed of academic discovery: it has around 50 full-time researchers and over 100 PhD and MPhil students working across all areas of reman. It carries out vital R&D on reman technology, acting as a link between research bench and factory floor, working with the government on setting policy, determining inspection standards and so on. A labelling scheme for remanufactured automotive parts has been established. The main problem for reman in China is to convince consumers that its products are worth buying, Shi believes. “On the consumer
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side, we are still too far from learning about the benefits of reman,” he says.
A long way to go “The heavy duty truck and engineering industries see reman is important – and if you can persuade those big companies then you have a large part of the market. But when it comes to small auto parts to end
users, there is still a long way to go for consumer acceptance.” On the subject of the cheap parts which are manufactured in China – and therefore squeeze the market for reman parts – he says: “Because of over-production, some big OE companies are reluctant to get into reman.” While this is another potential barrier, he is confident that reman can overcome it – and he also sees interesting areas of expansion. “Now, China is mostly about reman of auto, where there is maybe less profit,” he says. “But there is the potential for marine engines. Reman has a lot of opportunity there. And also the chemical industry, although China hasn’t started that yet.”
ReMaTecNews
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New CEO for Caterpillar Caterpillar, which has one of the largest reman operations in the world, is to have a new boss: chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman is to retire in March 2017. He will be replaced as CEO by Jim Umpleby on January 1, while Dave Calhoun becomes non-executive chairman of the board. Oberhelman has been with Caterpillar for more than 41 years, while Umpleby is himself a 35-year veteran of the company. He is currently group president with responsibility for energy & transportation. “Our people have heard me say many times
that my greatest responsibility as chairman and CEO is to manage Caterpillar for today and position the company and its future leaders for long-term success,” Oberhelman says. “It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this company, and I am confident in the choice of my successor.” Umpleby joined Caterpillar subsidiary Solar Turbines in San Diego in 1980 and has had roles in engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer services, including stints in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Baer to head VIPAR VIPAR Heavy Duty, North America’s network of independent aftermarket truck parts distributors, has made Chris Baer its president, replacing Steve Crowley. Baer joined the organisation in 2002 as director of program management and was promoted to executive vice president in 2014. Before that, he was with Chicago Rawhide/ SKF for 17 years in a variety of sales management roles, including director of automotive aftermarket sales. Baer said the organisation is growing a faster
rate than the aftermarket as a whole , and praised Crowley’s 16 years of leadership. “I appreciate the confidence and trust the board of directors has shown in naming me the next leader of VIPAR Heavy Duty and our family of companies,” said Baer. “I’m excited about the team we have in place to help us continue on a strong growth path.” Meanwhile, VIPAR Heavy Duty has also appointed David Wanhala as program manager, responsible for developing initiatives with suppliers. He was previously materials manager for Illinois Blower and purchasing manager for Alma Products.
Steinhilper named Remanufacturer of the Year Selected from “a strong candidate pool”, Rolf Steinhilper, professor for manufacturing and remanufacturing technologies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, has been named the Remanufacturer of the Year at BigR/ReMaTecUSA. Fernand Weiland, founder of the European division of APRA, recounted how Steinhilper began repairing cars in his father’s shop and then went on to study mechanical engineering. Weiland says that Steinhilper has worked to promote recycling and reman worldwide and in the political arena. Weiland called Steinhilper “the godfather of remanufacturing”. Steinhilper is also responsible for the Fraunhofer Project Group on Process Innovation at the University of Bayreuth where he runs the European Remanufacturing Technology Centre. He has published more than 15 books and more than 250 scientific articles. • The passion that built a career, p12 • Steinhilper on the future of reman, p37 Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
Jim Umpleby
Nichols steps up to Remy president New York-based private equity investment firm Torque Capital, which has bought the North American and European light vehicle aftermarket business of Remy from BorgWarner, has announced that the new Remy board of directors elected David Nichols to the role of president of the North American company. Nichols previously served as the company’s general manager and senior vice president of sales. Joseph Parzick, Torque Capital managing partner and chairman of the Remy board of directors, says: “We are delighted to have Dave Nichols serve as president as we begin this new chapter in Remy’s history. Dave is well respected both inside the company and among our customers and is known as a seasoned, resultsoriented, committed leader. His elevation to president is an affirmation of the role he was already performing as general manager of the aftermarket business since the acquisition of Remy by BorgWarner in November 2015.”
ReMaTecNews
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REVIEW
2016: Brexit, Trump - are there any surprises left for 2017? This has been the year when anything could - and did! - happen. As 2016 ends, we look back at the last 12 months through the pages of ReMaTecNews and ask what is likely to make the headlines next year
I
things have happened – and both of these may prove to have a significant impact on the global remanufacturing industry. Time will tell. One thing that business does not like is uncertainty: these are difficult economic times, as the cover story ‘Preparing SMEs for a tougher future’ reflects. This may not have been the most cheery headline
t’s been quite a year. In fact, if 2016 has taught us anything, it is that 2017 is likely to be very difficult to predict. If you had asked in January whether, by December, the UK would be on its way out of the European Union and the new US president would be Donald Trump, you may have received some odd looks. Yet both these
REMANUFA
imaginable, but it is at least honest. We can expect similar stories in 2017. Another which is set to rumble on also surfaced early in the year: ‘VW sees further decline’. Volkswagen was found to have programmed turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to meet emissions tests in a laboratory but not in the real world. The scandal
ReMaTecNews | 14
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ERNATIONAL APRIL 2016 |
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Volksw percen the U VW h
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Industry voices appreciation for work of Editor-in-Chief As editor of ReMaTecNews William Schwarck created the Remanufacturer of the Year Award in 2005. In the photo he and fellow judges, Doug Wolma,
Im V i
The c traine
Dana Corporation (left), and Volker Schittenhelm (right), congratulates Jack Stack, President and CEO, SRC Holding with the 2014 Award. This edition of ReMaTecNews will be the last presided over by William Schwarck in the position of Editor-in-Chief, a position he held for the past 15 years. During a period of tremendous change to the remanufacturing industry, William Schwarck has built a magazine that has reflected the extensive development of remanufacturing for the past one and a half decade. ReMaTecNews asked a number of industry leaders to assess the impact of the magazine since its beginning.
Preparing SM E tougher futu s for a re
He gave everything to our industry
Thank you
By Jack Stack, President & CEO, SRC Holdings Corp. US
Is it the ageing pop technique s of eng ine remanufac turing ind u
By Professor Rolf Steinhilper, Chair of Manufacturing and Remanufacuring Technology, University of Bayreuth, Germany
William Schwarck called me the other day and told me he was leaving ReMaTec to pursue new opportunities. Two thoughts flashed through my mind - one self-serving and one about our industry as a whole.
As I have been working with new remanufacturing technologies and applications for 35 years - since 1981 - I see two distinct periods: one is the the first twenty years of struggle where it was
My first thought was, what could be more exciting than remanufacturing? And my next thought hit me like a ton of bricks - and that was how William Schwarck could
hard to make the outside world aware of the exciting business called remanufacturing. The second period began in 2001 when
be leaving the industry that he spent so many years building throughout the world.
William Schwarck started editing his ReMaTecNews, promoting
A good part of his life he gave everything to our industry and asked for nothing in return. He gave us so much through his distinctive written style bringing us together
remanufacturing with professionalism, enthusiasm and a flair for interesting, up-to-date news. We would not have arrived where
with real stories, sometimes brave and always strong. His obvious aim was to grow the
remanufacturing is today without William´s endeavours and
industry internationally through recognition of its people and the companies who contributed to it.
commitment, which one could define as “media statesmanship”.
ReMaTecNews | 5
His magazine has bridged readers We will miss his tenacity to excite and unite us and we
ReMhas aTe cNe done for it.ws | 8
NEWS
will always love this man and this industry for what he
Reviving ind ustrial robots through rem anufacturing
Scotland – exe cuting reman strate gies
east and west of the oceans and formed a real global community for remanufacturing. Last but not
William Schwarck moved this industry with a story, an
least, he set the stage for the successful World Remanufacturing
infectious smile, a small camera and a big heart. It is with a sense of sadness that we see him leave and wish him a
Summits, William´s idea back in 2011, which today is in its fifth
triumphant new beginning.
annual edition.
termarket The automotive af te reacts to Brexit vo Thank you, William.
Industry gia nts and investors go for reman www.remate cnews.com
By Denise Rondini to British citizens voted On 23 June 2016, The full European Union. withdraw from the known not are ion decis ramifications of this et automotive aftermark at this time, but the some initial reactions. has been offering
Brexit - to leave By Steve McQueen
ReMaTecNews gives UK remanufacture rs the chance to answ er the question. Thursday 23 June 2016 is Referendu m Day in the UK. Everyone over the age of 18 will be entitled to vote in response to one question from the Government: “Should the Unite d Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union ?” The campaigns to ‘remain’ or ‘leave’ the EU are in full swing and the early opini on polls indicate that the result will be close . This makes a British Exit – or Brexit – a very real possibility.
36
British Prime Minis ter David Cameron at the European Union Summit
or not to leave
So, what does British industry think abou t that? According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMM T), the UK autom otive sector supports 800,000 jobs and contributes £15.5 billion to the economy. SMM T claims to represent the breadth of UK automotive businesses, includ ing car and comm ercial vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers and afterm arket companies as well. It says that its poll, held in March of this year, found that 77% of members supported remaining in the EU. It says 88% of large companies and 73% of small to mediumsized enterprises want to stay in.
SMMT’s poll was unable to track the views of the remanufacturing community, so ReMaTecNews asked individuals from the sector what they really think. All views expressed are those of specific individuals rathe r than direct comp any policies, unless stated.
www.ReMaTec.com As general mang er of
Northampton-based Turbo Technics, Steve Prees t is well placed to open the debate. The comp any is effectively two businesses. One sells remanufac tured turbos to UK custo mers, while the other expor ts turbo testing equip ment to specialists aroun d the world.
sometimes get involv ed with when dealin g with counties outside the EU.”
ATP is a specialist remanufacturer of transmissions, ECU and ABS equip ment with mark ets around the globe. It is headquartered in Cannock, Staffordshire. The company has a wide range of OE supply contr acts with leadin g vehicle manufacturers such as Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, Aston Martin and Mitsu bishi. It has other remanufac turing facilities in Europe, China and the US. Sales director Mark Bowe n says: “I am out. I genu inely think that if you’ve got what the world wants, when they want it at the price they want it at, they will buy it. All you
of European Association On its website the than a group of more Automotive Suppliers, s system parts, automotive 100 suppliers of al trade more than 20 nation and modules and iations, assoc sector ean associations and Europ es on have deep consequenc said, “This move will al and try in Europe in gener the automotive indus ular.” partic om in in the United Kingd Auto sales es media outlet that provid Benzinga, a financial an article markets, published content on various t Dave Leiker analys d quote on its website that is the st fundamental risk as saying, “The greate ence, and Eurozone – confid impact in the UK s of auto driver the are e employment and incom sales.” vehicles 90 percent of the He pointed out that other imported mostly from sold in the UK are three-quarters of on, additi In EU. countries in the ted, expor are UK built in the the passenger cars of the German Association according to the iation of assoc an , (VDA) Automotive Industry bodies, ers of cars, trailers, German manufactur . More parts and accessories buses and automotive Europe. in mers custo to go than half of those cars
secretarial tion that is also the Federation, a federa ation of enting the UK’s Feder organisation repres last , said, “The result of Engine Remanufacturers d an immediate cause has ndum night’s EU refere the and ts, marke e and the reaction both in Europ to ensure now work quickly government must g weeks and comin the over economic stability mic UK’s political and econo months as part of the EU.” negotiations with the
diate don’t envisage any imme She continued, “We continue aftermarket and will impact on the UK ghout throu gues collea our to work closely with for the this result means Europe to see what otive arket and the autom A new future UK independent afterm s, Chief further r Hawe “Afte , Mike news, .” She added In reacting to the industry as a whole ers we y of Motor Manufactur political restructure, Societ this The of of tive ration Execu explo and t iation that supports it may have on curren and Trades, an assoc will analyse the effect otive ed autom updat ers UK sts of the all of our memb promotes the intere legislation and keep .” British at every opportunity abroad, said, “The and ation home inform at latest try indus with the of Europe. a new future out public has chosen mic now maintain econo s Government must Exchange of good
wing of uncertainty. “Follo he called a period y’s the EU, it will be in nobod British departure from goods of flow l internationa interest to make the barriers erecting customs by sive expen more ent.” the European contin between Britain and ls for rs of the EU in Brusse He also called on leade tion. regula better and y transparenc
The soluti on is a combinatio study and n of learning on the job Philippe Maerten, Chairman Motoren of the G Revisie (Engine Group) of Rem anu Traxio (Be lgium): ‘Th technician e lack of s in Belgia n’s remanu is a fact. facturing There is a lack of inte younger rest amo generation to pursue a industry. career The best way to would be solve this to offer all p students, opportunity as standa of obtain ing a deg their time ree , by sp equally bet ween sch experience ool and on , such as th in worksh already exis ops. This ts in som sy e profess students ional sch often atte ools nd these than having as a last reso a particular rt, ra interest in It would this career be useful p if this spli be extend t-time syst ed to oth em co er second ary or pos t-second
the vote players responded to Some big industry with press statements. billion 2.7 billion pounds (3.7 With sales of some Bosch’s U.K. is currently euros) in 2015, the any. Germ after t ean marke second largest Europ GmbH CEO of Robert Bosch Dr. Volkmar Denner, “We are ent: statem press commented in a g the EU the effects of leavin currently examining y put addition, we have alread on our business. In : “We added He ” place. in res precautionary measu our any plans to scale back currently do not have om.” in the United Kingd capital expenditure
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
a German car parts Friedrichshafen AG,
REVIEW
actually broke in the autumn of 2015 (as ReMaTecNews succinctly put it then: ‘Volkswagen: the star that fell from the sky’) but the aftershocks from such a ground-shattering story have continued. On a happier note, ‘Industry voices appreciation for editor in chief’ was a fitting tribute to longserving ReMaTecNews mainstay William Schwarck. He has left very big shoes to fill and the words of praise for him from some of the biggest figures in reman were heartfelt and well-deserved. The Brexit debate received full coverage in ReMaTecNews. The third edition of the year carried two pages of opinion from reman in ‘Brexit – to leave or not to leave’. In the magazine, the ‘remain’ side carried the day but it was a close run
ReMaTecNews
“If you had asked in January whether, by December, the UK would be on its way out of the EU and the new US president would be Donald Trump, you may have received some odd looks” ReMaTecNews | 10
| 10
an reported Increased demand for rem
COMMON DEFINITION
GB wins award to Aftermarket Au Parts Alliance
r decline VW sees furthe
S
an increased Brake Engineering reported The company demand for remanufacturing. its braking brand says it is seeing success with campaign. ket Aftermar Original with its
What’s in a name?
le sales fell 4.7 d’s global vehic Volkswagen bran nes in China, ary, hit by decli cy, percent in Febru the newsagen l and Russia, the U.S., Brazi pe was a Euro ever, rted. How VW has repo unit. VW Group’s core bright spot for
pragmatic calm and appeals for stability. But the truth is that no-one knows what is going to happen. Late in the year, the news that leading reman associations had agreed common definitions of what reman means provided a welcome ray of sunshine. Reman has plenty to offer but it makes it so much easier to convince other people of this if everyone understands exactly what they are talking about. Perhaps that is a positive note of agreement on which to look forward to 2017.
thing and even those who wanted to stay were equivocal about doing so. In retrospect, perhaps the signs were there: after the referendum on June 23, of course, the ‘leave’ side was triumphant – although hardly by a large margin and still with a significant amount of headscratching even from many of those who voted to go. By the next edition of the magazine, the industry was digesting the – for many – shock news (‘The automotive aftermarket reacts to Brexit vote’) and responding with a mixture of
while remanufactured The company says that nufacturing has GB TheRema demand at this indusAwar thebe try shou California-based brake calipers experience higher d fromld applauding the six igious Diamond an even greater trade associations on defin ond received the prest the comm time of year, it is reporting which have come toget Alliance. The Diamitions of basic reman term compared to last Parts calipers for Auto s: their hard work will her to work out increase in demand Aftermarket er that stands make explains partn a manager, every to one’s lives easier nted year. Kevin Price, marketing as Award is prese s in areas such failure during harsher 394,000 last its competitoreing that brake parts are prone to able to put etinga name to out amongst ries dropped to in winter] as the support, mark VW brand delive in a challenging company and lack of a unifie conditions [like those found service, changeoversomething its in loyal to us year earlier, the mer a d rema movem sales 00 custo mean braking the mers ent,” s 413,7 en by you enters custo can support month from chief, Juerg Everyone who is worrie additional grit and water that believes CLEPA presid ance, and identi and marketing fy it: beingent ent Roberto d about and sales assist causes corrosion. ent today. able to do period,” sales ing, GB’s Presid system accelerates wear and said in a statem competition from the Vavassori. That shoul Michael Kitch that leads to in a statement. ‘spray and pray’ d not be a problem andstanding representatives. under Stackmann, said Director of Sales side of the market single GB’s from t r, of now it larges Barke – and ’s on: Russ if if should embrace you can under buoyant and everyone in the indus GB , the brand & CEO and “Remanufacturing is currently try d on behalf of stand what these definitions whole Demand in China awar ration Tiguan, uses these terms going somet ted the hing the Chinese New is then you can begin itself on having the the latest-gene heartedly. John forward, then the Marketing, accep 3 percent due to we’re a brand that prides to Stackmann said h, will Chalifoux, president market, fell by people who make accep t its importance. This . e from next mont in place to meet the the U.S. dropped and chief operating the decisions which right systems and processes Remanufacturing is why it is rolls out in Europ s, while sales in ed ration which receiv celeb office has the it influence and affect Year r of MERA, talked so heartening that said changing automotive publicity over reman – politicians of how these will six leading reman a big push. VW requirements of an ever amid negative give the brand e the inaugural “further help the indus SUV in the and policymakers by 13 percent associ to receiv red ations l emissions tests. t,” says Price. with membersbeen across the world – for the compact try communicataftermarke “We are hono ing of U.S. diese e will 15,000 pre-orders ce. We have in the the quality, value and have no excuse for automaker’s cheat autom the Allian sales dropped d fromotive sector have reach VW sustai not Awar hs, s. know nabili ond mont ing ion week ty Diam ed what two common past seven controls the entire benefits of remanufactu diesel fuel inject reman is and why defini Over the first ine and tions Price explains that the company gasol of basic et that gained 3.4 it is so important to red goods”. reman terms . . supplying the GB the U.S., a mark n, re-engineer and rs since 2006 That can only be a the economy. 13.8 percent in d best-selling It repres reman process. “We reconditio ce Share entsholde Allian good thing. To 40 percent while a tremendous leap is Europe’s secon standard ce for program to the Brazil plunged The Tiguan finish, it is worth thinki ture parts to the highest ly with the Allian theedindus percent. Sales in close with a European very try when ng about one ofremanufac percent. it comes Nissan Qashqai he says. “It is toess raising We have work a was down 7 busin nt, adding them to our range,” SUV after the ental the perce before defini aware increm 1.3 tions volume in Russi ness of the word ‘definition’ of, and confidence to bring 40 last year, down is driving demand for in, Parts Warehouse qai, this attention to detail that itself: it means ‘distin volume of 148,9 in a downward remanprevio usly ufactu 88 for the Qash redwas ctness in outline’. products. pe a category that with sales of 232,7 in Euro product.” in our ared et ent Follow comp mark ing the work of the The Europ from Improvem r. nean Association e the company reman Russ Barke according to data of trend,” saidAutom in Europe, wher associations, we will up 14 percent, otive Suppliers (CLEP VW brand’s sales all be able to see To detail its remanufacturing expertise, the cars fitted with Dynamics. n A), million diesel ReMMotor more clearly. researchers JATO aTec&Ne is recalling 8.5 Equip Core Process poster percent. “Our ws ment company has released a new | 16 Remanufacturers are, rose 3.7 Association (MERA remanufacturing. manipulated softw ), explains the key stages of
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Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Assoc iation (APRA), Automotive Parts Rema nufacturers National Association (ANRAP), International Feder Is it the ation of Engine ageing pop ulation. Remanufacturers and technique The introd Rebuilders (FIRM) s of eng uct ion, in qui ine overha and Remanufacture remanufac ck succes ul. Whate Committee of China turing ind sion, of ver the cau Association of Autom ustry. Thi sophistica ses, the obile Manufactures s percep ted new fact rem tion is hel technique ains that (CPRA) are to be congr d by a num s. Or the there is a atulated in putting ber of sta lack of rec shortage their heads together keholders of ogn hig ize in this sensible way. hly skilled d , who hav ining in personnel “Fortra e direct exp the many years, the lack of a comm within the erience of on European the proble understandi www.R ng within eMaTe c.com m. the sector has led to vigorous debate, misunderstandings 290
that parts of the caliper The company says all wear ts. The caliper are replaced with new componen finish that is said to housing gets a zinc plated caliper is pressure the Then resistant. be corrosion says, each piston company the addition, In tested. that undergoes a has an anti-corrosion coating salt spray resistance test.
reman definition s in
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non-functional product or part, intend ed for the remanufacturing proces s. During reverse logistics, a core is protec ted, handled and identified for reman ufacturing to avoid damage and to preser ve its value. A core is not waste or scrap and is not intended to be reused before remanufacturing.
ents and stories
whose principals An investment team and Kensington include the Smithfield Group Pure Power Capital Partners have acquired
European trade assoc iations have already agreed the following:
Inc. Technologies from Navistar,
Remanufactured part
It fulfils a function which is at least equivalent compared to the original part. It is restored from an existing part (core), using standa rdised industrial processes in line with specific technical specifications. A reman ufactured part is given the same warran ty as a new part and it clearly identifi es the part as a remanufactured part and states the remanufacturer.
‘The core is the bloodline’ Email your comm
now the aftermarkets This move means PPT is of high-performance leading independent supplier and precision diesel fuel injection systems for medium- and machining products and systems
Chairman
Traxio’s Eng ine Remanufac turing Gro up
We inspect each unit against strict core acceptance criteria where rejected units are scrapped or returned.
3
BREAKDOWN
Accepted units are fully dismantled including the pistons and sliders.
4 5
CLEANING
The dismantled unit then passes to a blast wash where it is cleansed of dirt and debris.
PLATING
The unit is then electroplated in a Chrome 6 free finish which aids the life of our calipers.
6
REBUILD
7
The unit is then ready for rebuilding and passes through advanced production cells including: • Fitment of 100% new rubber components. • Fitment of 100% new piston and sliders – manufactured on site.
PACKING
In the distinctive black and amber Brake Engineering box.
9
FITMENT
Fitted to cars every day for trouble free motoring.
100% CALIPER NEW PISTONS USED
Each unit is only released once it passes stringent multi-stage high and low pressure tests as used at OE level.
8 10
TESTING
REMANUFACTURING
IS RUN 24 HOURS
IN EVERY UNIT 5 DAYS A WEEK
WE CAN REMANUFACTURE IN
4/5 DAYS
92% MARKET COVERAGE
EVERY 5TH
CALIPER WE
REMANUFACTURE
SHIPMENT
Delivered nationwide daily via next day delivery.
100% NEW SLIDERS AND SEALS
IS DIFFERENT USED IN EVERY UNIT
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02/09/2015 11:35
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Infographic.indd 7865 BE Core Process A2
1
s. Jerry Sweetland, heavy-duty truck application this move leaves the president and CEO, believes to bring our worldcompany “well positioned manufacturing class diesel technologies, precision new market segments and testing capabilities to nt our core business and customers that compleme with related products and solutions.”
Navistar will continue as a major t. a 10-year supply agreemen
customer through
Kensington Capital “The Smithfield Group and to empowering Pure Partners are committed continue to deliver Power Technologies to solutions that rmance capabilities and high-perfo growth,” says Justin drive short- and long-term n Capital Partners. n Mirro, president of Kensingto
news.com
ReMaTecNews
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olidating s n o c e h T arket reman m
olution
Philippe Ma erten,
INSPECTION
to editorial@rematec
Up close with Bendix
is a com bination and learni of classr ng on the oom job e Maerte n, Chairm an of the n Revisie Groepering (Engine Remanufac of Traxio turing (Belgium): ‘The lack ns in Bel of qualifie gian’s rem d anufacturi There is a ng indust lack of inte ry rest among generation st the to pursue a career The best in this way to solve this to offer all problem, students, as standar y of obt d, the aining a degree, by qually bet splitting ween sch ool and on such as the job in worksh ops. This s in som system e profess ional sch n attend ools, but these as a last resort, particular rather interest in this career useful if path. this split-tim e system o other sec could ondary or post-secon dary
is Our caliper remanufacturing Wales. located in Wrexham, North Old core units are delivered here daily.
s Pure Power Technologies Investment Team Acquire
ss
*An established proces s, which is fully documented and capable to fulfil the requirements establ ished by the remanufacturer
2
REMANUFACTURING CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
October 2016
Core A standardized indust rial process* by REM ANUF A previo RING INTE which usly sold,IONA cores areACTU RNAT worn or return ed to same-as-new, or better, condition and performance. The process is in line with specific technical specifications, includ ing engineering, quality and testing standards. The process yields fully warranted products.
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hydraulics discs, pads, drums, shoes,| VOLUME ng.com pistons www.brake-eincluding 4 1981 T SINCEcompany’s of the NO AFTERMARKE that each new parts covering He addsORIGINAL 16 | 70 launched and20 and calipers, ion coating and has AUGUST s across all has an improved anti-corros more than 800 vehicle application spray resistance test undergone a 450-hour salt groups in 2015. product braking L climates, cold IONA their suitability for use in RNATproving of 500 vickers. “The NG INTE to assess the as well as having a hardness ACTURI turing brake calipers, “It is important we continue UFremanufac “When AN too and therefore says, Price REM and only add piston surface finish is improved is essential as it requirements of the market adding an anti-corrosion coating product line that are reduces wear on the seals.” corrosion, and necessary products to our peeling, rust, is key to preventing ,” Price concluded. n customers resistant re our to temperatu relevant y full braking solution as well as being particularl Brake Engineering offers a colder months.” which is crucial during the
Get the meaning : those two new Remanufacturing proce
CESS: CORAEDAYPRO CALIPER IN THE LIFE OF A BRAKE ENGINEERING
institution s, or if gre ater cooper could be ation with established schools , e.g. incr through the easing effi coordinatio ciency n of worksh op visits.’ A lack of internatio nally rec Jean-Paul ognized Borsten, courses Director/O fabriek De wner of Sutter and MotorenChairman Revisiebed of the BO rijven VAG (Netherlan conducted ds): by BOVAG ‘Research shows tha indeed an t there issue wit h the age is the Nether ing popula lands; the tion in average personnel age of tec in the rem hnical anufacturi 38. There ng indust is also a ry is about general sho skilled lab rtage of our. In my highly opinion, this constant is a result changes in of the technolog work mo y, which ma re comple kes the x and me have to reg ans that ularly upd employee ate their s are also knowledge issues wit . There h the dro p-out rate s during
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Common definitions: What’s in a name? Remanufacturer of the Year 2016 The Big Interview: Jens Email your comments and stories toUhl, editorial@rematecnews.com ZF Services
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TECHNICAL
The precision business Reman can learn from related industries when it comes to the use of technology – and one high-precision company has found the key to success is getting the right match of software and machine tool
D
oeko produces complex parts for industries that require high-precision manufacturing, expanding its repertoire far beyond the conception and production of complete injection moulds and precision mechanical parts. As the team and its equipment have grown, the Netherlands-based firm has evolved into another entity entirely, and today it counts more than 10 CNC machine tools, including those made by Mori Seiki, Toyoda, Okuma, Fanuc, Nakamura and Sodick, among the machining muscle that makes the precision job shop tick. Doeko serves multiple industries, among them automotive, the food and medical sectors, minting institutions and the semi-conductor industry. As such, the company sees a bit of “this and that” – from automobile moulds to prototypes for lamps, tiny and complex medical parts, LED lights - on site. Harry Hendriks, production manager, explains: “All of our parts are different, and we have to produce quickly.” The primary goal is to deliver rapid-fire and excellent service to the company’s existing roster of customers while keeping an eye on exporting not only to Germany and France, but also to Brazil and Hong Kong. “We have
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more than 100 customers, including Philips, NXP, KTM Motorcycles, Honeywell and RPC-Packaging, who all appreciate our quality work and the finishing of our parts,” says Serge Vijverberg, production assistant. “The huge quantities machined do not affect precision, though we complete
some orders of 4,000 LED lights, or we produce 500 parts per month for air suspensions for vans. At the moment, we are finalising a hinge for the semiconductor industry. This component will be first created in a small quantity, and then, if results are good, we will make 300 or 400 items.”
Eight programmers share duties for rough milling, 2-axis milling, 4-5 axis FreeForm milling and wire EDM
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
TECHNICAL
“We have many more customers from new sectors, and they are more and more demanding. They can easily compare and put us in competition with other companies, so we have to be the best” A day in the life A typical day in the life for Doeko’s eight programmers includes working with Siemens Unigraphics computeraided-design (CAD) software for part design and with ESPRIT computeraided-manufacturing (CAM) for part programming. In 1998, Doeko’s managers had to face the cold, hard reality of the ongoing globalisation wave: to remain competitive and reap the benefits of the industrial evolution, the company had to adopt CAM software and chose ESPRIT for its ability to programme parts for every industry and every machining discipline. This was essential because Doeko’s talent lies with its adaptability and knowledge in making several different types of complex parts. “We are a very flexible company that must be able to quickly change from one application to another and, with ESPRIT, we can,” Hendriks says. “We don’t need to buy several types of software.” When you are on deadline, an accurate CNC code is a must, there is no replacement for reliable, high-performance CAM. As Hendriks explains, ESPRIT is highly customisable for milling, turning, mill-turn, and wire EDM. Multi-tasking and high-speed machining, as well as piloting B-axis machine tools, are easily
manageable with the software and, with top-notch post processors, compatible with various machine tools right out of the box. ESPRIT’s CAD-to-CAM interface directly imports any native part model from any source, fully intact, with no need for programmers to edit or rebuild geometry. It also directly machines from any combination of geometries - solids, surfaces, wireframe or STL files. Installation of the new CAM technology was arranged by the ESPRIT reseller in the Netherlands, Greenock CAD Service, based in Ede. After their initial training, Doeko’s programmers quickly became familiar with the software and, not long after, were able to work completely independently with ESPRIT. Doeko credits the responsive team at Greenock CAD Service — with customers such as LVD, Philips and Nedtrain, among others — for its rapid success.
New era Doeko was up and running in 1998 with four seats of ESPRIT for wire EDM and milling. Today, it has eight licenses with FreeForm and 4-5 axis milling, with which 75% of its parts are programmed. Things have certainly changed since the early days. Vijverberg recalls a part that the company was tasked with programming before it acquired CAM software. The part, which would become part of a lawn mower, required a whole day of programming: “From my experience, we
now need only one hour to launch the machining of this kind of mould thanks to the CAM system and the memory capacities of our machines.” When asked which parts they are able to produce today without ESPRIT, Hendriks and Vijverberg say, “None, in particular moulds and dies.” Doeko used to count its programming time in days. Today, it is counted in hours and minutes. Production has increased 40-50% in the last ten years. “We have many more customers from new sectors, and they are more and more demanding,” Hendriks says. “They can easily compare and put us in competition with other companies, so we have to be the best. The products have changed, too, certainly due to the technical advances. They are more complex, as well as the machines, and our job now is to make everything work perfectly.” The current demand is so high that Doeko enlarged its shop floor in 2012, invested in four new multi-tasking machines and 5-axis machines, and is currently recruiting new engineers. Greenock will train them in the turning and mill-turn functionalities of ESPRIT and new post processors. Hendriks and Vijverberg can be proud of Doeko’s growth. Since the beginning, they have diversified and developed production. They are able to make hard decisions and take risks, invest in complex machines and software, learn on their own and take on new challenges – and can face the future with confidence.
A part for a KTM motorcycle produced by ESPRIT 4-5 axis milling Posted 10 hours ago
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ReMaTecNews
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PRODUCTS
SMP to supply PurePower Standard Motor Products (SMP) is to supply remanufactured diesel fuel injectors as part of a new agreement with PurePower Technologies. The automotive replacement parts manufacturer and distributor will deliver PurePower’s diesel
products, which include new OE-production injectors for 6.0L, 6.4L and I6 engines – the firm has produced more than 25 million injectors for OEMs. SMP offers hundreds of diesel parts in dozens of unique diesel categories, and is a basic manufacturer
in most of them, it says. “Keeping with the company’s commitment to deliver the finest quality diesel products, this new agreement solidifies SMP’s position in the diesel market and provides SMP customers with the highquality product they need
to compete in this growing segment,” the company adds. SMP supplies independent professional auto technicians and automotive DIY-ers with high-quality replacement parts for engine management ignition, emission and fuel systems.
LBM COLLATES SPARE PARTS
Innovation Awards: enter now! World-class products which are new to the remanufacturing industry are going to be rewarded next year. The Innovation Awards 2017 will offer a complete overview of the latest innovations, inspiring trends and developments in reman. During ReMaTec 2017 in Amsterdam in June, the most innovative products on the market are going to be given maximum publicity as the winners of this prestigious awards programme are announced. Make sure your voice is heard so you can claim your place in the spotlight. Registration is open for the following categories:
A new catalogue listing spare parts for manual transmissions is set to make the selection and purchasing of such items easier for Europe’s small workshops. LBM Autoparts’ catalogue contains over 500 parts from leading suppliers for brands such as Opel, VW, Ford and Renault. The Gothenburg-based company says it can be difficult and time-consuming to source and purchase alternatives to original spare parts. “We want to show people that they don’t need to purchase original parts to remanufacture manual transmissions and, perhaps most importantly, that it can be easy to source alternative spare parts of comparable or even higher quality,” says LBM CEO Erik Stålebo. “Our new catalogue makes is possible for a small workshop to quickly source all spare parts needed for a transmission. This gives you a complete overview, facilitating the product selection, purchasing process and even the actual remanufacturing work. We know that with our help, many minor specialist companies can extend their offering, allowing them to attract new customers. This opens up new business opportunities for them and will also benefit the end customers, who will get access to highquality remanufacturing services, often at a better price than from the major workshops.”
Turbo (turbo components and parts) Starters & Alternators (starters and alternators components and parts) l Transmissions (transmission components and parts) l Engines (engine components and parts) l Systems (components and parts in ECU/electronics, steering/suspension, brakes, air conditioning/cooling) l Equipment (remanufacturing equipment) l l
Please go immediately to http://www.rematec.com/amsterdam/ innovations/innovationlab/ for more information on the competition. Remember, you need to sign up to ensure that you are in the running for the Innovation Awards 2017. Enter now!
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Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
Closing the circle Bravo! French legislators should be congratulated for taking the lead on imposing the re-use of automotive spare parts, says Fernand Weiland - now it’s up to other countries to follow suit Across the world, the circular economy is a new eco-strategy which enjoys considerable support from politicians, opinion-makers, environmentalists and, increasingly, from industrialists and business people. Prior to the emergence of the circular economy, the linear economy focused almost exclusively on the conventional production system: manufacturing a product, using it and then disposing of it, frequently into a landfill. Also described as ‘from cradle to grave’, the linear economy involved enormous disposal/waste of valuable raw materials, finished products and components, as well as investment. As the name implies, the circular economy is a complete ecosystem with the ultimate objective of producing zero waste. The challenge of maximising the recovery of material in recycling is significant. Zero waste production, also called closed-loop production, boasts 100% material recovery and is extremely difficult to accomplish. One the other hand, remanufacturing on average reuses 80% of the material while saving 100% of the energy embedded in the product. Ségolène Royal
© guillaumepaumier.com: CC-BY
Landfill
Recycling (Shredder etc.) Remanufacturing
Production of New Material
Original Manufacturer New Product/ Equipment
Recycling (shredding), which saves no embedded energy, cannot make such a claim.
Political support Until recently my perception was that remanufacturers do not get the support of politicians. But I was very pleased to learn that Ségolène Royal, French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, and president of last year’s COP 21 United Nations climate change conference - had issued a decree imposing the reuse of automotive components. Congratulations! This is the first practical legal resolution to promote the reuse of spare parts for the repair of vehicles in Europe. Decree 703 stipulates that French garages or repair shops must propose an alternative to new parts to the motorist or car owner - in other words, parts coming from the circular economy are now being promoted to the public as a viable option. Remanufactured parts are well established in Europe and I don’t have to tell you that they are as good as new. Reused parts are supplied by certified vehicle dismantlers and must undergo testing before being sold. I leave the determination about which parts are best for the repair job to the distributors of components and to the garage to decide.
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
Reuse
User of Product or Equipment
In fact, the intention of the French decree is to allow the garage to be the advisor to the car owner about what is best for his or her car.
Imposing quotas My hope is for other European legislators to follow the French example. EU directives are already in place to make sure that we recycle products like cars, electrical equipment, and so on, up to a certain quota between 50-80%. Our future goal must be to achieve a circular economy where we recuperate all the material from endof-life products. This is a challenge for industry, but the final result will not only benefit the environment, but will force companies to become more efficient, innovative and resourceful. My question is: if we can impose quotas for recycling why can’t we impose quotas for remanufacturing or reusing products? By reusing more products, we would make a great contribution towards closing the circular loop to achieve the ideal goal of only using recovered material. This may be a pipe dream and you may think that imposing regulations is counterproductive, but I believe that putting pressure on the system will create new innovation, making the reuse of products more predominant.
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Design4Reman: engine of change The VDA’s Design4Reman working group is about to release its position paper: FIRM’s Volker Schittenhelm thinks this will have a positive impact on future engine reman In May 2015 VDA, the Berlinbased association of German car manufacturers, launched a new working group called Design4Reman. FIRM was indirectly involved in that group, whose aim was to create a position paper looking at the benefits of implementing – at a very early stage of the development process - the potential remanufacturing aspect of a component at its end-of-life cycle. Product development and design engineers should always be aware of environmental impacts and the need to set the base for future sales rationale with regard to total cost of ownership. What would the benefit be for us? It would make easier the reman of future combustion engines and their highly sophisticated technologies, including all materials, surfaces and production processes. The position paper has been finished and will be published soon. From a very strong association like VDA, it will certainly have a value. In the context of political activities with regard to environmental protection – such as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well reduction of the carbon footprint – it is clear that our reman industry has
“I personally do not see an end to the combustion engine – which has been predicted by different environmental associations and groupings” reached the global political level. So I see a real chance, with the politicians behind us, to achieve political guidelines or at least to support the environmentally-
driven strategy of Design4Reman and to see this implemented in car manufacturers’ future product development processes. I personally do not see an end to the combustion engine – which has been predicted by different environmental associations and groupings. They are right, that diesel engines have a negative impact on pollution. But a lot of combustion engine specialists predict that engines – including the diesel engine – still have a huge potential for emissions reduction and thus have a chance to survive beyond 2030. The latest news from Brussels supports this: the environmental committee of the European Parliament has made clear demands on the circular economy, suggesting guidelines for recycling and repairing products in order to create a longer life cycle. Now it’s up to all reman-related working groups and reman associations lobbying in Brussels – such as FIRM, APRA and CLEPA - to get in touch with the committee and explain how the Design4Reman strategy fits into this. www.FIRM-org.eu www.communication@FIRM-org.eu
What is your own five-year plan? Augmented reality, connected cars, e-mobility, car sharing, demographic changes, new political and legal requirements, changing customer behaviour, ageing vehicles, increase in electrical components, new materials – these are all things that we, as an association, are thinking about as we try to protect the independent aftermarket and you, our members. What do you think about them? One thing is for sure - your strategy cannot be to sit back saying: “I will react and make plans when the time comes.” These issues should bother you now: proactive strategic planning is the best way to be prepared for future customer needs and market requirements –
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and only you can work out what your individual company or garage strategy should be! • Service portfolio: increase or concentrate? • In which direction will I go? • Specialist or generalist? • Standalone or in co-operation? But please remember that you are not alone! You have: • Your FIRM membership, where you can share experience, knowledge and information – online and via newsletters • Possibilities to participate at related summits and events yourself or listen to feedback from your association reps
• Your national engine reman association • Your guild and chamber of crafts • A highly competent garage team • Branch colleagues Also, have you ever considered an advisory board of non-technical people from outside the car industry, such as finance and media experts, with a good balance of age and experience? Okay, this will cost money and time to administer and organise, but you could regard this group as your independent counterpart, who can discuss issues from a more neutral position. It is time to think about all this – now, rather than in the future. Your individual future starts today – when reading this.
Email your comments and stories to editorial@rematecnews.com
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Spotlight On: ARMEC For many years ARMEC has been in the business of remanufacturing original turbochargers, an experience that allows the company to also produce tools, turbo test benches, equipment and turbo testers under its own name brand Specialized in the remanufacturing of turbochargers, the ARMEC developers define themselves as true craftsmen who not just regenerate but remanufacture the turbocharger. The company has been in business since 1970 and today, the first remanufactured turbocharger dates back to 1983.In carrying out its activities, ARMEC remanufactures original turbos of leading international brands. Led by a passion for this enterprise, the owners and the employees of the company have gained extensive experience in the field, so as to be able to offer the market the TURBO ARMEC, a product which, as Luigi Arbore, quality technician at ARMEC asserts, greatly withstands the test with respect to the original turbo. Seeing the continued growth of the business, in 2010 ARMEC opened its new headquarters at Corato, Italy.
A product more than a guarantee ARMEC’s main purpose is to offer a high quality product, and for this very reason the company stands by the TURBO ARMEC with THREE FREE guarantees. The first guarantee is the Kasco Turbo, which covers the turbo in case of breakage for any reason, even due to normal wear and tear. The second is the Kasco Turbo PLUS Guarantee, which covers the costs of materials and labour for the replacement of the turbo. The third is the Kasco Turbo ACI Guarantee, which provides services and roadside assistance in case of any vehicle failure.
The new ARMEC headquarters in Corato, Italy
Equipment specialist Thanks to its experience in the remanufacturing of turbochargers, ARMEC has created and patented tools, equipment and turbo test benches for the remanufacture of the turbo, in order to best carry out its activity. The aim is indeed to provide the TURBO ARMEC always embodies the exact specifications of the original turbo. ARMEC works with numerous Professionals who use the TURBO ARMEC tools, equipment, turbo testers and turbo test benches and with whom the company shares hands on experience. To those desirous to undertake the remanufacturing of turbo, the company offers for rental its own
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turbo test benches. Through a workshop you can attend a demonstration of the various stages of turbo remanufacturing, using TURBO ARMEC tools, equipment, testers and turbo test benches. To participate, simply fill out the invitation form on the turbo.it website.
Training ARMEC also offers technical training courses aimed at supporting car repair, engine builders, mechanics, machinist, engine & turbo remanufacturers. ARMEC makes available its expertise, continuously updated, to best resolve turbo engine problems and to create new jobs. www.turbo.it
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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Three into one as TransTec brand takes leading role Automotive seals manufacturer Freudenberg has switched to a single aftermarket sealing kit option for buyers of remanufacturing kits and components in the power steering sector A strategic decision by Germanbased automotive seals manufacturer Freudenberg means that the TransTec brand is now the OE supplier’s sole aftermarket sealing kit option for buyers of remanufacturing kits and components in the power steering sector. Until now, Freudenberg’s sealing kits for this market were previously available under the TransTec, Corteco (Freudenberg’s aftermarket distribution arm) and ASL (Auto Suppliers Limited) brands. ASL was acquired by Corteco over two years ago and continues to have operations in Kidderminster, UK. “While ASL and Corteco are dominant brands around Europe, TransTec is the leading name everywhere else in the world, for not only power steering applications but automatic transmission overhaul kits too” says Timo Flettner, Commercial Manager TransTec Europe. “The move to one brand of power steering kits makes more sense. It streamlines our route to market, and clears up any confusion that may be out there.” TransTec, a brand of North American based Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies which was introduced in 1978 has evolved and continues to strengthen following the 1989 joint venture between manufacturing parents Freudenberg and Japan based NOK Corporation - one of the world’s largest manufacturers of steering and transmission components. TransTec sealing kits are purchased primarily by specialist distributors that sell to remanufacturers of automatic transmissions, as well as power steering rack, gear and pump remanufacturers that are supplied directly. “Single branding makes buying decisions easier for customers globally and it allows us to focus on TransTec’s worldwide reputation for quality,” says Simon Vickers, product
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manager, TransTec Europe. “It also provides us with the opportunity to drive home the message that we are the only aftermarket kit supplier that is also an OE seal manufacturer.” For additional information, please visit www.fst.com/company/about-fnst www.transtec.com
“The move to one brand of power steering kits makes more sense. It streamlines our route to market, and clears up any confusion that may be out there”
About Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is the Americas joint venture between Freudenberg and Co. in Germany and NOK Corp. in Japan. Freudenberg-NOK is a leading producer of advanced sealing technologies for a variety of markets including: aerospace; agriculture; appliance; automotive; construction; diesel engine; energy; food and beverage; heavy industry; and pharmaceutical. Founded in 1989 under the legal name Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, Freudenberg-NOK is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich. and operates more than 20 facilities across the Americas. For additional information, please visit www.fnst.com
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DIARY
January 2017
March 2017
23.Jan - 26.Jan
2017 HDAW SHOW - HEAVY DUTY AFTERMARKET WEEK HDAW is a business-to-business, executive conference presented by a joint operating committee of industry leaders from 13 distinguished industry associations. Las Vegas, NV, USA
January/February 2017 31.Jan - 2.Feb
AUTOMECHANIKA JEDDAH Saudi Arabia’s leading regional trade fair for the automotive aftermarket industry, targeting trade visitors from Saudi Arabia. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
February/March 2017
15.Mar - 18.Mar
MOTORTEC AUTOMECHANIKA MADRID
Leading international trade fair for the automotive industry in Spain aimed at professional visitors from the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and North Africa. Madrid, Spain 21.Mar - 24.Mar
28.Feb - 2.Mar
Presenting a classic range of products in the field of spare parts, automotive components and equipment for the vehicle maintenance, along with the latest developments and achievements in the industry. Astana, Kazakhstan
team!
Contact us to make an appointment. rematec@rai.nl
June 2017 18.Jun - 20.Jun
REMATEC AMSTERDAM The largest remanufacturing event in the world, bringing the whole supply chain of reman together. Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 2017
The driving force of the Indian automotive aftermarket industry. New Delhi, India
AUTOMECHANIKA
26.July - 28.July
Chicago, IL, USA 29.Mar - 30.Mar
8TH CLEPA AFTERMARKET CONFERENCE
September 2017 14.Sept - 24.Sept
67th IAA CARS
May 2017
Frankfurt, Germany
October 2017
17.May
CLEPA MATERIALS REGULATIONS EVENT
17.Oct - 21.Oct
EQUIP AUTO
Stuttgart, Germany
Paris, France 17.May - 18.May
MEMA LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT
19.Oct - 22.Oct
ATRA’S POWERTRAIN EXPO 2017
Learn about how legislative and regulatory activities impact the motor vehicle business, and network with other industry leaders. Washington, DC, USA 24.May - 28.May
June 2017
Chengdu, China
ACMA AUTOMECHANIKA NEW DELHI
Brussels, Belgium
KIAE - KAZAKHSTAN INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE EXPO
Meet the
25.May - 27.May
CAPAS CHENDU INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR AUTO PARTS
AUTOPROMOTEC Bologna, Italy
Las Vegas, NV, USA 24.Oct - 26.Oct
PARTS2CLEAN Stuttgart, Germany 28.Oct - 30.Oct
INTERNATIONAL BIG R SHOW Las Vegas, NV, USA
18.Jun - 20.Jun
REMATEC AMSTERDAM The largest remanufacturing event in the world, bringing the whole supply chain of reman together. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brand of
Turbocharger R&D center Original Production Standard Excellent CHRA Balacing Yorien de Ruijter sales manager RAI Exhibitions
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www.aeolusturbo.com
ReMaTecNews
45
MARKETPLACE
Balancing machines
Cores (continued)
Transmission parts
ARMEC S.n.c.
RS Automotive Core
GFX Corp.
Via Ruvo, 145 70033 - Corato - Italy P +39 080 872 44 17 E support@turbo.it W www.turbo.it
Unit 20, Clipper Park, Thurrock Park Way, Tilbury, Essex RM18 7HG P +44 (0) 1375 842782 E enquiries@rsautocore.co.uk W www.rsautomotivecore.co.uk
4810 NW 74 Ave. Miami, FL. 3166 United States of America (USA) P +1 305-499-9789 E www.gfxcorp.com W dios@gfxcorp.com
CIMAT 4 Bogdana Raczkowskiego St. 85-868 Bydgoszcz, Poland P +48 52 363 16 76 E sales@cimat.pl W www.cimat.pl
STP-Parts GmbH Otto-Hahn-Str. 7, D-40721, Hilden Germany P +49 (0) 2103 978 66 10 E info@stp-parts.de W www.stp-parts.de
Flowing Machines
Turbo Parts
ARMEC S.n.c. Via Ruvo, 145 70033 - Corato - Italy P +39 080 872 44 17 E support@turbo.it W www.turbo.it
Schenck RoTec GmbH Landwehrstr. 55 64293 Darmstadt | Germany P +49 6151 32 2311 E rotec@schenck.net W www.schenck-rotec.com
Cores
Gobbi Spare Parts Spa Via Capannaguzzo 3681 47521 Macerone di Cesena (FC) Italy P +39 0547 311146 E info@gobbisp.com W www.gobbisp.com
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www.ReMaTec.com
INFORMATION ARMEC S.n.c. Via Ruvo, 145 70033 - Corato - Italy P +39 080 872 44 17 E support@turbo.it W www.turbo.it
For more information please contact the ReMaTec Sales team. P +31 20 549 14 31 E advertising@rematecnews.com W www.rematecnews.com
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Join the industry’s largest event! • Meet with remanufacturing specialists from over 70 countries • Visit 250 exhibitors in one large hall • Visit the InnovationLAB for the newest products and equipment • Attend inspiring sessions in the ReMaTec Theatre
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FULL LINE AUTOMOTIVE CORE SUPPLIES One of the largest global suppliers
GEARBOXES
STEERING COLUMNS
STEERING RACKS
DRIVE SHAFTS
AC PUMPS
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TURBOS
INJECTORS
CALIPERS
CALIPERS
DIESEL PUMPS
STEERING PUMPS
0044 (0) 1268 285 888 info@autoenterprises.co.uk
www.autoenterprises.co.uk
Auto Enterprises Ad v4.indd 1
06/05/2015 09:43