Thomas Meyer, Director TruckServices Remanufacturing and Resale EMEA at Knorr-Bremse Commercial Vehicle Systems, gives insight into the remanufacturing in the commercial vehicle systems industry, its importance for the company and the environment, and the perspectives for the future.
Knorr-Bremse created EconX as a brand for industrially remanufactured products that can help to ensure that even older commercial vehicles can stay on the road safety and efficiently.
Currently, we offer over 1,000 different EconX products, including calipers for disc brakes, electronic air control, compressors, EBS modules, electronic clutch actuators and spring-type cylinders. These are original, appropriate for the current market value of the vehicle and sustainable.
Remanufacturing not only saves materials and energy, but it is also an inexpensive and functional option to use older vehicles safely for a long time. The use of old cores for the production of an EconX SN7 caliper, for example, results in a reduction in emissions equivalent to 44.9kg of CO2.
Growing trend towards remanufacturing in CV market
The trend towards remanufacturing in the commercial vehicle market continues to grow rapidly, comparable to that in the passenger car market. Last year, a total of 130,000 used products were processed in our remanufacturing plant (pictured, top) in the Czech city of Liberec.
This is proof of the high demand for industrial remanufacturing of used products. In 2021, EconX products made it possible to not only save 1.85 million kg of CO2 in Europe, but also 7.5 million kW/h of energy and roughly 640,000 kg of materials.
In our remanufacturing plant in Liberec, Knorr-Bremse’s largest remanufacturing site in Europe, the individual components of used service new calipers go through a specially coordinated reprocessing procedure to ensure that they meet Knorr-Bremse’s high standards for quality and safety. Final assembly and testing of the calipers is then handled on the OE assembly lines in the Liberec and Aldersbach plants.
In this way, we ensure that Knorr-Bremse’s high quality standards are met. In addition, a remanufactured product saves up to three-quarters of the CO2 emissions of a new product, despite the emissions caused by transporting and returning used products, disassembly, cleaning, processing, inspection and reinstallation.
Remanufacturing is cost-effective for vehicle operators
EconX products are up to 20% less expensive than service new parts. In addition to the direct pricing advantage, there is also an indirect pricing advantage for the customer.
Innovation cycles for electronic components are so short that a specific electronic component is frequently available only in limited numbers even before a product’s entire lifecycle is over. So EconX products enable customers to take full advantage of the optimised lifecycle and reduce the total cost of ownership of older vehicles.
