Emphasising its credentials as an environmentally conscious manufacturer with sustainability at its core, DENSO’s comprehensive programme includes diesel injectors and pumps, starters and alternators and nickel hybrid vehicle batteries. The company is a global leader among OE component manufacturers and system suppliers, with an extensive aftermarket portfolio. Its remanufacturing programme however, is less well known, despite being active in the European market for more than 10 years. To raise aftermarket awareness of the environmentally sustainable components, pan-European strategic marketing manager at DENSO Europe, Fatiha Laauich spoke with Andre Koppenol, manager of the remanufacturing team and his colleagues, who are responsible for the OE quality range. Q. “What is the main reason for the remanufacturing programme?” A. “It’s actually threefold, to deliver high quality products of the same standards as the original component on the vehicle but manufactured in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. Q. “Where do remanufactured components fit in the aftermarket? A. “Today, if a product like a starter or alternator fails, or the battery in their hybrid vehicle breaks down, European motorists have a choice as to whether they replace it with a brand-new unit or a remanufactured one. “Each of these components is the same in terms of its quality, in fact in some circumstances, such as when it’s rebuilt according to the latest OE standards compared to a new unit of a four-yea- old design, you could even say it’s better. So, the choice for the consumer is whether they prefer a remanufactured unit that is more environmentally friendly and cheaper to purchase, or a completely new one. “However, we’d obviously encourage our customers to highlight the environmental and potential newer technology benefits of the remanufactured unit.” Performance and reliability Q. “A question that often arises is the difference between remanufacture and repair?” A. “An example of a repair, would be if there was a problem with a solenoid on a starter, which could simply be replaced and the fault rectified. In contrast, remanufacture is when the unit is completely disassembled and every component is cleaned, examined, tested and recycled, or if necessary, replaced. It is then rebuilt and tested against the standard of the original unit, so that as far as its performance and reliability is concerned, it will become, in effect, a new unit. “However, a distinction needs to be made when it 48 AFTERMARKET MAY 2024 REMANUFACTURED COMPONENTS www.aftermarketonline.net comes to diesel components such as injectors, which due to their complexity cannot be repaired in the sense of replacing just one small part, they have to be completely remanufactured.” Q. “And is that process only carried out by DENSO?” A. “No, because for diesel pumps and injectors, there are two sides to remanufacturing. The first is the remanufacture of diesel injectors carried out by DENSO in our own facilities, which is an operation only for our vehicle manufacturer (VM) partners and their dealer networks. The second, diesel parts remanufactured through our DENSO service repair network, a service offered to both VM dealers and the independent aftermarket. “This network is made up of independent diesel specialists based throughout Europe, that are trained and authorised by DENSO to execute diagnostics, service and repair to DENSO standards. This means they are able to remanufacture these components to the same OE standards as us, the only meaningful difference being that they are more limited in their production capacity compared to our mass production focused facilities. Comprehensive support “It’s worth adding that the DENSO service repair network is an important part of our service and repair solution for both the independent aftermarket and the VM dealer networks. REMANUFACTURING IN FOCUS DENSO team turns the spotlight on the group’s environmentally sustainable components for the aftermarket
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=