Remanufacturing is our core business. We’ve been remanufacturing automotive brake parts for over 25 years. Remanufacturing is well accepted in Europe, here in Australia however, it’s almost seen as “taboo”, “not as good as an aftermarket new part” or “it’s just reconditioned”. All those statements are not true and why we brand our remanufactured parts as OE Enhanced. Let’s dive into this topic and understand it’s importance to our industry.
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Written by Cameron Parker
What is Remanufacturing?
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Steinhilper, University of Bayreuth
In 2016, six leading associations with members in the automotive sector reached a common understanding of basic definitions associated with the industry.
Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing is a standardised industrial process* by which cores are returned to same-as-new, or better, condition and performance. The process is in line with specific technical specifications, including engineering, quality and testing standards. The process yields fully warranted products.
*An industrial process is an established process, which is fully documented, and capable to fulfil the requirements established by the remanufacturer.
Remanufactured Part
A remanufactured part fulfills a function which is at least equivalent compared to the original part. It is restored from an existing part (CORE), using standardised industrial processes in line with specific technical specifications. A remanufactured part is given the same warranty as a new part and it clearly identifies the part as a remanufactured part and states the remanufacturer.
Core
A core is a previously sold, worn or non-functional product or part, intended for the remanufacturing process. During reverse logistics, a core is protected, handled and identified for remanufacturing to avoid damage and to preserve its value. A core is not waste or scrap and is not intended to be reused before remanufacturing.
But what does this all really mean in layman’s terms? Effectively you’re buying a part with the same quality if not better than new and offered with the same if not better warranty than the original manufacturer.
What is OE Enhanced?
Any of our products branded as OE Enhanced is part our Remanufactured line. Now that you understand what remanufacturing is, it’s easy to understand OE Enhanced. Simply by definition, it’s the OE part… Enhanced which is represents our core pillars. RELIABILITY, SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITY
Our Process
All of our OE Enhanced products go through rigorous process which follows the manufacturers standards. This includes core inspection through to finished product testing.
How is it Enhanced?
This varies from product to product. In the case of our calipers it depends on what’s wrong with the original design. Of course, some are just well built, to which we replace that quality. If not, there is generally some common faults we see or hear about. We engineer a solution to overcome the design fault. If it suffers from “caliper rattle” we may look at replacing the plain (un-bushed) pins with you guessed it, bushed pins. As seen in almost all the Commodore and Falcon OE Enhanced calipers we remanufacture, such as the B862-555R & B862-556R twins.
If the caliper came with phenolic pistons, then we will replace the pistons with our steel hard chromed pistons for better durability and therefore longer life. There can be improvements made over the OE product as we have the luxury of analysing years of abuse and 1,000’s of kilometers. Any product design short-falls will have well and truly raised their heads. We now have the opportunity to “Enhance” the design.
One of our OE Enhanced calipers off a Ferrari 365 GTB 4
In Summary
So you see, there really is a difference in a Remanufactured product in comparison to Reconditioned and New.
- New (aftermarket) have dubious quality standards and are often reversed engineered leading to faults literally copied into the new product (we’ve physically seen this). Low R&D helps keeps the cost down, so “New”, unless done the right way, will lead to part failure and warranty return.
- Reconditioned, often a mixed phrase when referring to Remanufactured, but lets be real, reconditioned is someone in their garage giving the part a scrub and paint. It’s not even comparable.
- Remanufacturers, like us, directly impact and support the sustainability of automotive industry. With out us, many vehicles would simply be unrepairable.
When you’re buying the next set of calipers, stop and think about SAFETY. Is the aftermarket new caliper even safe? Sure, go for the cheapest option, only to be revisiting the work months down the track with an angry customer? Rework only costs you money! Or go for the SUSTAINABLE, RELIABLE option you know has equal if not better quality than the OE product, backed by 5 years warranty….It’s pretty simple.
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