When Remanufacturing Becomes an Alternative
By Christie Katora, Sales Representative,
Flight Systems Industrial Products
Factory Certified, Certified Pre-Owned, Certified, Pre-Loved…these are just some of the catch phrases used by the automotive industry to pitch “used” or “previously owned” vehicles to their customers. The automotive industry has not only been selling used vehicles since day one, but has also been using rebuilt and “remanufactured” parts such as alternators, carburetors, transmissions, and even entire engines since the first car broke down. The practice makes sense in the automotive market, and makes just as much sense for the electric vehicle market.
Remanufactured parts make sense for a variety of reasons including economics, reliability, and environmental concerns. Replacing parts, especially more complex circuit boards and controls, can be very costly. The most apparent benefit to utilizing rebuilt controls is economic, it betters your bottom line. Remanufactured controls are often a better quality product than the original. Certified repair centers are able to rebuild controls to the most recent OEM specifications while taking care of any needed upgrades in the process. Remanufactured parts also benefit the environment. Instead of scrapping the old unit and buying a new one, the old unit is “recycled” in to a better, longer lasting item that will continue to provide service rather than occupying space in a land fill.
What, exactly, is included in the phrase “remanufactured parts for electric vehicles”? To “remanufacture” is to refurbish a used product by renovating and reassembling its components. The remanufacturing process involves the disassembly of the product at which time its components are cleaned, repaired or replaced, upgraded to the latest specifications, reassembled, and tested to ensure equal to or better quality than the original. Electric golf carts, personnel carriers, aerial lifts, neighborhood electric vehicles, mobility aid products, electric lift trucks, electric automobiles, mining locomotives, and other similar electric industrial utility vehicles all contain parts that can be remanufactured. Just some of the controls and parts on the aforementioned vehicles that can be remanufactured include traction controls that govern the drive motors, pump controls that manage the hydraulic lift pump motors, power steering controls, DC/DC converters, accelerators and throttle controls, dash displays, battery discharge indicators, vehicle control units that monitor all systems within a vehicle by utilizing CAN bus, and accessory cards that could include almost any electronic components within the vehicle.
“Anytime you can purchase a piece of industrial equipment for less than retail price, you are doing well. Buying good used or refurbished industrial equipment allows you to cost effectively utilize quality equipment in your operations,” says Rusty Dixon, co-owner of Forklifts Plus in Gallatin, TN. “Your profit is in the products you sell or distribute.” Economics…remanufactured controls have a positive, direct impact on your bottom line. Returning directly to the OEM for “new” replacement parts is going to cost you whatever the manufacturer decides is the price. As technology advances, the cost of manufacturing increases. Newer, more complex controls are becoming progressively more expensive. Your cost to have a control remanufactured is generally 50% of the cost of new. The math is simple.
The added benefit beyond economics is the reliability and service you get from OEM authorized repair facilities. A remanufactured control is completely disassembled, cleaned, internal electronics are repaired or replaced, upgraded to the most recent OEM specifications, reassembled while keeping the initial integrity of the environmentally sealed components, load tested to ensure original specifications are met, and usually backed by a service warranty of at least one year. In essence, the remanufactured control is better and more reliable than new at about half the cost.
Sometimes remanufacturing an older control is your only option. Does it make sense to scrap an entire vehicle because the faulty part is no longer manufactured new? Older electronics and obsolete parts force the remanufacturing issue.
Popular trends within the golf cart market are calling for faster and more powerful, “beefier” controls. Golf carts aren’t just for riding around on the greens anymore. They are used as retirement community vehicles, hunting all terrain vehicles, campground transportation, and as “racing” dune buggies. A wide variety of electric golf cart controllers can be upgraded to higher current ratings to provide the boost required for these additional applications.
Authorized service centers accommodate the needs of your particular situation. Remanufactured does not necessarily mean waiting while your vehicle is down. While repair and return often takes between two days and a week, depending on the complexity of the control, “used” cores from the field are remanufactured and placed on the shelf waiting for you to purchase. There is zero down time, and once you receive your replacement control, the faulty control goes back to the supplier where it will be “recycled” and placed back in to the loop.
“Remanufacturing is the ultimate form of recycling. It conserves not only the raw material content but also much of the value added during the processes required to manufacture new products,” state Ron Giuntini and Kevin Gaudette in their article, “Remanufacturing: The next great opportunity for boosting US productivity” from the November – December 2003 issue of Business Horizons. Many local governments are legislating requirements for citizens to recycle in their communities. Remanufacturing electric vehicle controls takes recycling to a whole new level.
As the only authorized Servicenter for both General Electric and Curtis Instruments for out of warranty controls, FSIP provides remanufacturing services on a “direct” dealer basis or through a variety of OEM and Distributor programs. Within their remanufacturing facility, “We recycle over two tons of aluminum and almost two thousand pounds of scrap printed circuit boards each year…from controls that are no longer able to be remanufactured,” says Tony Gasull, Sales Manager for Flight Systems Industrial Products (FSIP) in Carlisle, PA.
Remanufactured controls offer more bang for the buck. They cost about half of new, they are more reliable and can be upgraded, and they are better for the environment. The next time you or your customer need to replace a control in an electric vehicle, consider the benefits of a remanufactured control. Or a “pre-owned” or “pre-loved” control…
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