Hitachi Construction open new Remanufacturing Centre
State-of-the-art €1 million workshop facility specializes in supply of main pumps, cylinders and transmissions
AFTER two years of detailed planning, development and installation of the latest high-tech engineering and testing equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (HCME) have opened a new €1 million Remanufacturing Centre.
The facility – situated in the vicinity of HCME’s Oosterhout factory in the south of The Netherlands – specializes in the supply of 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 will also work with an extensive network of OEMs for other components.
The company’s tried-and-tested remanufacturing process is initiated when a 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 to 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,’ said HCME dealer support manager Marten Bootsma.
‘This remanufacturing parts 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 now have 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.’
Dick Verhoeven, assistant manager at the Centre, added: ‘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.’
