Remanufacturing is the industrial reprocessing of used parts. In comparison to a repair, the old parts are completely disassembled and each component is tested for reusability and reprocessed(cleaning, reworking of functional surfaces if necessary, etc.), followed by assembly and testing of the entire component analogous to the production of new parts. Used parts are obtained by the fact that products are not disposed of or recycled at the end of their useful life, but are fed into the remanufacturing process. Remanufacturing not only pursues ecological goals, such as savingresources, energy and CO2, but also focuses on economic efficiency and customer benefits. Manufacturing costs are saved and sales can be increased by offering the customer a product that is in line with the current market value. In addition, the obligation to supply spare parts is supported in the long run.
Remanufacturing is practiced by well-known OEMs as part of their aftersales strategy. The projects range from the definition of requirements to the industrialization and empowerment of a supplier to the serial implementation of remanufacturing. The aim is not only to support the customer in creating a business case, but the areas of activity are diverse and include, among others, sustainability considerations.
Remanufacturing eliminates key process steps in the production of spare parts, such as the extraction of raw materials and the primary shaping of components. As a result, a significant proportion of energy and greenhouse gas emissions are saved compared to new production.
Using the example of a 4-cylinder replacement engine, this article explains step by step how the emission and energy balances for new production and remanufacturing can be created and compared. In this way, it can be shown that in the present reference scenario, 62% in emissions and 63% in energy can be saved through remanufacturing. In addition, fewer resources in the form of (metal) raw materials are required, since hardly any primary materials are needed to build remanufacturing components. Remanufacturing is therefore a resource-, energy- and emission-saving procedure for offering sustainable spare parts in the automotive sector.
