DETROIT, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Remanufacturing is one of the ways that
Detroit Diesel is helping to preserve the world's environment and natural
resources. Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing Corporation's five North American
centers remanufacture everything from complete diesel engines to individual
components.
Remanufacturing is considered the ultimate form of recycling. Recycling
commonly refers to products that are returned to their original raw material
state, removing them from the waste disposal stream by using the raw materials
to manufacture new products, such as melting down engine castings and using
the metals to make new parts.
Remanufacturing, however, offers a better alternative to recycling.
Studies have shown that the energy saved each year through global
remanufacturing efforts, equals the electricity generated by five nuclear
power plants or 10,744,000 barrels of oil.
In fact, a 1981 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the
remanufacturing of automobile components indicated that nearly 85 percent of
the energy expended in the manufacturing of the original product was preserved
in the remanufactured product. The raw materials saved yearly through
remanufacturing would fill 155,000 railroad cars.
"Through remanufacturing, Detroit Diesel avoids placing a significant
amount of core material into the nation's landfills and helps reduce the
amount of pollution created by the re-smelting and reprocessing of engine
components," said James Morrow, president of Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing
Corporation. "These benefits are continually multiplied as remanufactured
cores go through the process again and again. For instance, at our East and
West Remanufacturing Centers, our core volume processing is expected to
surpass 90 million pounds. It's staggering when you think we save that much
material from heading to landfills or scrap piles."
Remanufacturing: The Process
Detroit Diesel's reliabilt(R) remanufacturing process was designed to be
environmentally friendly. A very specific baking process is utilized to clean
the cores. Cores are heated to a temperature that reduces contaminants, such
as oil and grease, to a fine powder. The cores are then media-blasted to
remove the powder and remaining contaminants. The cleaning process was
developed with the intent of utilizing a non-caustic baking process.
All cores coming in for remanufacturing are disassembled by hand. This
process makes it much easier to separate like-type materials. Detroit
Diesel's disassembly process eliminates that contamination, creating pure
alloys from the parts that end up being scrapped, saving valuable natural
resources.
Skilled Technicians, World-Class Process
Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing's world-class restoration process begins
with skilled technicians disassembling components. Using precise, computer-
aided processes for measuring, gauging, salvage technology, reassembly and
testing -- Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing restores products to their original
blue print specifications.
Because each product is different, every component requires a unique
process. Morrow summarized the basics involved in remanufacturing any product
at Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing.
"We decide what parts we're going to remanufacture and then we go through
a process of receiving and qualifying," explained Morrow. The philosophy of
Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing is simple: offer the customer a cost effective
solution that restores the product to the latest blueprint specifications.
"One of the things we insist on is that the part not only be completely
restored from a functional standpoint, but it's got to look the same as the
original as well," said Morrow. "For instance, on the Series 60(R) engine
block, we pre-paint all the components before we assemble them, so that it
will indeed look just like the new engine looks when it goes out the door."
Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing Corporation, a subsidiary of Detroit Diesel
Corporation, remanufactures and markets a complete line of diesel engines and
related products in North America, including the reliabilt(R) brand. For more
than 40 years, reliabilt has been one of the most respected names in the
aftermarket business with ready-to-install products for on-highway and off-
highway power-systems.
Detroit Diesel Corporation is the leading manufacturer of on-highway
heavy-duty diesel engines for the commercial truck market. The company offers
a complete line of engines from 170 to 515 horsepower for the on-highway and
vocational markets. Through its corporate headquarters in Detroit, Michigan,
Detroit Diesel is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale and service of
these products, in addition to supporting alternative and hybrid engine
strategies for the commercial truck marketplace. Detroit Diesel is a
subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler and part of the Freightliner group of companies.
SOURCE Detroit Diesel Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.detroitdiesel.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/239425.html
CONTACT:
Liane Bilicki of Detroit Diesel Corporation,
+1-313-592-5266
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