CHANTILLY, Va. – Shawn Zwicker, leader of new business development at Cummins Inc. in Columbus, Ind., will speak on “Embracing the Future” at the Opening Session of the International BIG R Show, which takes place Oct. 31 at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.

Zwicker has more than 18 years of plant manufacturing experience. He has been on the OE side of the business as well as the reman business. He has spent the past eight years working in remanufacturing with the Cummins ReCon organization. Prior to re-joining Cummins in the ReCon organization, he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers as a principal consultant in the cost management and operations strategy practice.

“Growing environmental concerns and the prospect of ever-increasing fuel costs are impacting the design and overall operation of today’s high-tech diesel engines,” said Zwicker. “These factors are creating pressure to design engines that are increasingly lighter and more compact while at the same time much more environmentally friendly. In addition to overall engine design these same pressure points will push the replacement of traditional components to mechatronic components which are lighter, smaller and more energy efficient.

“From a remanufacturing perspective, these changes will challenge the industry to evaluate its traditional salvage techniques. Many common techniques that have been reliable for years may no longer be viable. The margin or excess of material that once existed on diesel engines may no longer be available. These facts coupled with customer preference to restore engines to 100 percent original engineering specifications will pressure the industry to evolve from a ‘remove metal’ industry to a ‘deposit metal’ industry. Remanufacturing factories will need to be able to do this in a high-volume production manner,” added Zwicker.

“As the capital requirements to migrate into these new more advanced remanufacturing technologies may be quite large, it is likely that current remanufacturers will be seeking partnership arrangements. This will be to share the capital requirements as well as the benefits of advanced remanufacturing technologies,” Zwicker concluded.

To hear more from Zwicker at the Opening Session, visit the BIG R Show website for complete details.