Today, remanufacturing is a major industry and central to the ‘Circular Economy’ where products can be given a new lease of life, equal in quality to the original brand new version, at a compelling price point. The process of remanufacturing in the bus and coach sector, therefore, provides operator customers with both cost and environmental benefits.
Covering a range of components including brake calipers, steering boxes, power steering racks (EPAS & Hydraulic), differentials, hydraulic equipment and air suspension compressors, for example, remanufacturing plays a significant role in the bus aftermarket supply chain. Supported by well-established exchange programmes, remanufacturing also helps to ensure that parts are available for some time after production of a specific vehicle has ended. By stockpiling specific units, OE remanufacturers can protect operators against the future obsolescence of parts, whilst not having to invest in new tooling to keep older programmes active. This issue is all the more relevant as the sector transitions to electrified fleets.
Adherence to quality and industry standards are also essential factors in automotive remanufacturing. These processes include the detailed inspection and checking of components against manufacturer tolerances. In addition, perishable items such gaskets, springs and seals are renewed. As well as saving natural resources, remanufactured products also offer a more sustainable solution, as considerably less energy and materials are used in the remanufacturing process. All waste material from the process is also collected for recycling.
Based on Imperial Engineering’s own experience as a well-established supplier of OE remanufactured components to the UK bus and coach sector, awareness of sustainability among its operator customers is gradually increasing, along with an understanding of the environmental advantages of remanufactured components. Although cost, product availability and quality continue to be the main considerations for bus garages.
Here’s a snapshot of the benefits of remanufacturing:
- Cost effective – remanufactured products are much cheaper than purchasing the same product brand new, resulting in significant savings for customers.
- Better availability – remanufactured products offer customers access to items previously only available as brand new units, or legacy components that are no longer in OE production.
- Fast turnaround – due to better availability, remanufactured products help speed up turnaround, keeping lead times and repair times to a minimum.
- Saves raw materials – remanufacturing means reduced wastage. In terms of raw materials, a remanufactured unit will only use around 10% of the raw materials it would take to produce a new unit.
- Conserves energy – the process of remanufacturing saves energy that would otherwise be needed for manufacturing new products.
Imperial Engineering has a number of distribution agreements with suppliers of OE remanufactured products, which includes:
Remanufacturing experts with over 60 years of experience, Knorr-Bremse’s EconX remand brand is designed to meet Knorr-Bremse’s OE product standards. Because of this, EconX products offer function and safety equivalent to Knorr-Bremse original parts, with no compromises. This can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 75 percent, in comparison to the manufacture of brand new parts.
A WABCO Reman Solutions product is restored from a re-usable core, which goes through a series of advanced industrial processes performed by dedicated industry experts at certified WABCO Reman Solutions facilities around the world. During the remanufacturing process, all parts which are subject to wear, as well as critical components, are replaced by the highest quality WABCO components. To ensure only the best products make it to market, functional tests are performed to achieve no less than a 100% quality rating on all products. The standardized and fully documented WABCO remanufacturing process ensures that the used core is always returned to the market as a same-as-new or better condition product.
PSS has been a market leader in remanufacturing safety critical PSV vehicle steering products for over 50 years, positioning it as the UK’s largest and most respected supplier of remanufactured PSV steering products to bus and coach aftermarket parts distributors.
For over 30 years, Meritor has been remanufacturing components for both OE and aftermarket customers. The company has made substantial investments in its remanufacturing facilities in Europe, as well as developing new core recovery processes, testing and quality assurance procedures.
For more information about the range of remanufactured parts available in the bus and coach sector, please contact the sales team at Imperial Engineering.
