HCME unveils new remanufacturing centre

Having initially launched the remanufactured parts programme in 2009, 6512 Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (HCME) has now unveiled a new €1million Remanufacturing Centre. After two years of detailed planning, intricate development and the installation of the latest high-tech engineering and testing equipment, the impressive facility has officially opened its doors for business.

There is already a wide range of remanufactured parts available for Hitachi customers throughout the European dealer network, and as a next step, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS.

The quality of components is “as good as new” according to HCME’s dealer support manager, Marten Bootsma, and comes with a significant saving on the new list price.

The centre is situated in the vicinity of HCME’s Oosterhout factory in the south of The Netherlands,and it specialises in the supply of the main pumps, swing and travel motors, and cylinders for most medium and large Zaxis excavators, and ultra-large EX-6 series mining machines. It also caters for the transmissions on ZW wheel loaders.

While only Hitachi-manufactured components will be overhauled in the Remanufacturing Centre, HCME works with an extensive network of OEMs for other components. These include: 6960 ZF, the manufacturer of axles and transmissions for wheeled excavators; 7080 MTU, which supplies Mercedes engines for the ZW310; Allison’s Dutch dealer for dump truck transmissions; and a British company that has been certified by 3129 Isuzu Europe for the DPF (part of the muffler filter) on Zaxis-5 medium and large excavators.

In addition, the remanufacturing of AC-drive components for the EH-series dump trucks has been licensed to a Dutch company.

As an example, each EH3500ACII rigid dump truck in the 4641 Talvivaara Mining Company’s fleet in Finland will benefit from these remanufactured components being fitted at 20,000 hours. This offer will be extended to other similar fleets that fall under HCME’s parts distribution network.

The tried-and-tested remanufacturing process is initiated when the required part is ordered by one of HCME’s dealers on behalf of a customer. The sales agreement includes the return of the core product to HCME, where it is assessed for damage and evaluated for repair.

It is then disassembled and replenished with new parts if required, and then assembled, checked and tested using rigid Hitachi standards, so that it is returned to the same specification as a new component. The remanufactured component is also sold with a six-month warranty, the same as a new component.

“The competitive price, high level of quality and excellent availability of remanufactured parts mean that they are an attractive proposition for any Hitachi customer,” says Marten.

“This programme is also a good example of HCME’s corporate social responsibility activities, as the core isn’t scrapped, but refurbished and supplied back into the market.

“HCME’s customers benefit directly from the Remanufacturing Centre, because they have now better access to an increased supply of components from Europe as well as Japan. In addition, the sustainable value of this facility may be evidenced by the diminishing need for raw materials in the supply chain.”

The centre’s assistant manager Dick Verhoeven adds: “We have carefully planned the creation of the workshop facility, the definition of the specifications for the remanufacturing process and the purchase of the necessary equipment. Now that we’re open for business, our attention turns to increasing the level of production and our ultimate goal of increasing the proportion of remanufactured products in the market.”