“We call this process remanufacturing to emphasize that this is an industrial standard and not a shop repair job,” explains Thorsten Krug, technical manager at the Bielefeld location. But at least the first phase of remanufacturing starts in the shop, which is the disassembly of cores. From the shop, it is sent to one of the remanufacturing locations via a collection point. Once it arrives, knowledgeable specialists examine and assess the newly arrived cores. Afterwards, the cores are disassembled and cleaned. In the process, technicians sort out the damaged individual components, dispose of them in an environmentally-friendly manner or take them to recycling. During the assembly process, ZF experts replace the defective and missing parts with OEM-quality spare parts and also replace worn parts. If necessary, the software is also updated. In the process, there are only deviations from the original volume-production product if the current technology is more advanced than when the original equipment was made. If this is the case, remanufacturing also includes a technical upgrade. As the last step, the part, along with a new warranty, goes back on the market where it awaits its next deployment as a spare part.
Roughly nine out of ten units can be remanufactured in this way. This also lengthens the service life of many vehicles which are no longer being mass-produced. Ultimately, nothing compares in quality to volume-produced components that have successfully undergone remanufacturing. This process closes the gap between increasingly shorter product innovation cycles and the increasingly longer product life cycles.
The advantage for vehicle owners, auto repair shops and distributors is that remanufactured products are less expensive, the waiting time for spare parts is reduced and, best of all, they lower one's personal CO2 footprint.
