Originally published in APRA eConnection
To celebrate Global Reman Day, which took place on April 14, two dozen members of the remanufacturing industry convened at ZF Group’s facility in Vernon Hills, Illinois. At the invitation of ZF Reman Engineering Leader Jeffrey Stukenborg, members of the reman industry were introduced to ZF’s wide range of remanufacturing capabilities of everything from transmissions and automotive assemblies to massive wind turbine gears.
Started by the Remanufacturing Industries Council in 2017, Global Reman Day was established to advance the remanufacturing industry through remanufacturer-hosted events and workforce development initiatives. Products that can be remanufactured include, toner and ink jet cartridges, but also all kinds of autos and auto parts, industrial machinery, small appliances, medical devices, production engines and even airplanes and aeronautical equipment.
Representatives from Caterpillar, Navistar, Allen Woods & Associates, Armex, AMBAC Manufacturing and Clover Imaging Group were in attendance. Industry trade associations also were represented, including the Automotive Parts Remanufacturing Association (APRA), MERA – the Association for Sustainable Manufacturing (part of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturing Association) and the International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC).
“It was great to have our customers and reman organizations visit and tour our remanufacturing operation in Vernon Hills on Reman Day providing awareness of how remanufacturing can be a great sustainability tool in protecting the environment,” said Stukenborg said.
Each of the association leaders introduced their respective associations and members who were present. Tricia Judge, executive director of the Int’l ITC, introduced the Clover Imaging Group representatives, and shared some facts about imaging supplies. “More than 375 million cartridges are thrown into landfills every year. That’s more than 1 million every day. And it’s a shame because 90 percent of each cartridge could be reused through remanufacturing,” she said.
Joe Kripli, president of APRA, said, “Of all automotive manufactured components, only two percent are remanufactured. If your company is planning on being carbon-neutral in the near future, you will need remanufacturing to get you there.”
ZF Group says it is striving to be climate-neutral by 2040. To achieve this, the company is acting in many different areas. For example, via power purchase agreements concluded in 2021 with producers of wind and solar energy, ZF plants in Germany will be supplied with up to 210 gigawatt hours of green electricity in each of the years 2022 to 2025. The agreed-upon volumes, which corresponds to the electricity consumption of 72,000 homes, will reduce CO2 emissions by 80,000 tons annually.
The day’s events were capped off with a tour of ZF Group’s 290,000-square-foot remanufacturing facility. ZF Group started by remanufacturing automotive parts for the Chicago Transit Authority and has evolved into a global remanufacturer of heavy industrial equipment, transmissions and other automotive parts and blades for use in wind turbines.
Remanufacturers are having a tremendous positive impact on the environment. Remanufacturing is defined as a comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, leased, used, worn, remanufactured, or non-functional product or part is returned to a like-new, same-as-when-new, or better-than-when-new condition, from both a quality and performance perspective, through a controlled, reproducible and sustainable process.
A 2012 U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) report found that remanufacturers support at least 180,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. Further, the ITC report states that production of remanufactured goods in the U.S. increased by 15 percent from 2009 to 2011 and exports totaled $11.2 billion annually.
Remanufacturing has been recognized by leading universities, research institutions, and manufacturers in the United States as good for the environment for its ability to divert end-of-life products from landfills.
To focus the nation’s attention on the benefits of remanufacturing, businesses, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations have joined together to celebrate Reman Day and are encouraging their colleagues, friends and families, and their communities to learn more about the benefits of remanufactured products.
