Machine tool remanufacturing urgently needs to break through the bottleneck of development and achieve energy saving and emission reduction

Recently, Xu Binshi, an expert in the field of remanufacturing in China and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, proposed at the National Remanufacturing Conference hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that the loss of equipment in our country is extremely alarming and that remanufacturing is imperative. At present, there are more than 2 million machine tools that have been in service in China for more than 10 years, and 80% of in-service engineering machinery exceeds their warranty period. The environmental, resource, and social benefits of remanufacturing are enormous.

Remanufactured in the United States, which originated in the 1940s, has now been recognized as a green production method that saves energy and raw materials. How to make the technology play a greater role in China's production practice and form a new industry is particularly important today in building an energy-saving society.

Turning Waste into Energy Saving & Emission Reduction “For the sustainable development of society, the rational use of resources and the saving of energy, remanufacturing is becoming more and more important.” Wang Ruigang, Deputy Secretary-General of China Institute of Mechanical Engineering, told reporters, “The abandoned equipment has been As a social problem, this company discards a machine tool, and that company discards a machine and becomes social waste. Steel, plastics, non-ferrous metals, and glass have all kinds of materials. Recycling has become a problem, and at the same time, a lot of new machines have to be used. The new steel will again consume more materials and energy.”

Remanufacturing generally refers to the process of repairing and technologically transforming products that have reached the end of their useful lives to meet or exceed the performance of prototype products. Remanufactured objects can be equipment, systems, facilities, or components. "Remanufacturing is a very complete system. Under this system, we don't wait for this equipment to be scrapped. We have a plan and a destination to send to a designated remanufacturing center to prevent it from becoming junk," Wang Ruigang said. In the field of mechanical manufacturing, taking into consideration the detachability and recyclability of various components, it has been consciously installed that some components of different types and different metals are installed by special methods, so that when a component has a problem, it can be very Simple and convenient replacement, so that you can save a lot of time, procedures .... Remanufacturing will make a very big contribution to the rational use of the entire social resources.

Remanufacturing activities can not only enable enterprises to obtain certain economic benefits, but also bring about better social benefits. ”

During the two sessions of the National People's Congress, many representatives proposed that the development of the remanufacturing industry, the restoration of waste and the old, and the conversion of waste into treasure are important measures for the development of a green and low-carbon economy. “As far as car transmissions are concerned, Fast currently has 2 million units. According to the update rate of 10%, 200,000 units will be scrapped each year. A transmission needs 800 kg of steel from raw materials to manufacturing, if it can 20,000 units will be able to save 16,000 tons of steel by repairing and recycling,” said Li Dakai, chairman of the National People's Congress and chairman and general manager of Shaanxi Fast Automotive Transmission Group Co., Ltd. during an interview during the two sessions.

Dr. Cao Huajun of Chongqing University, the main participant in the company's profit-making "machine tool green remanufacturing technology research and application project", introduced to reporters: "Chongqing Machine Tool (Group) Co., Ltd. and other units apply the "machine tool green remanufacturing complete set of technology research and The achievements of Applied Engineering have completed the remanufacturing of more than 800 sets of used machine tools for enterprises such as Shaanxi Fast and Chongqing Qiutian Gear. The total industrial output value has been increased by more than 60 million yuan, saving companies the cost of acquiring new similar machine tools. With 150 million yuan, the company's equipment capabilities have been significantly improved. With the R&D and application of this achievement, Chongqing Machine Tool (Group) Co., Ltd. has also recently been listed as the first batch of pilot units for the remanufacturing of mechanical and electrical products of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."

At the end of 2009, after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced 14 auto parts remanufacturing pilot enterprises in 2008, it announced 35 companies and industries including Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Machine Tool (Group) Co., Ltd. The agglomeration area is the first batch of pilot units for the remanufacturing of mechanical and electrical products. The scope covers engineering machinery, machine tools, mining machinery, railway locomotive equipment, ships and other industries.

It is understood that remanufacturing in the United States is an enterprise business with a history of more than 60 years. Caterpillar, a giant of construction machinery, has successfully found a point of agreement between remanufacturing technology and its unique business model since the 1970s.

In mature European and American countries, the cost of a remanufactured automobile engine is only about 1/3 of the new product. Due to obvious economic benefits, almost every well-known automobile manufacturer, including Volkswagen, General Motors, has incorporated remanufacturing technology into its after-sales service system.

It is urgent to break through the development bottleneck and form a complete industrial chain for the remanufacturing business, which needs the support of multiple factors. China's remanufacturing business has not been promoted in a large area in the enterprise. There are historical reasons as well as subjective reasons. Wang Ruigang believes that domestic companies are different from foreign companies and have weaker research capabilities. However, studies conducted by universities and research institutes are far from the actual needs of factories and cannot be immediately used in practice. As a result, there is a disconnect between production, education, and research. It is a historical reason; Another reason is that the investment required for remanufacturing alone cannot rely on the rapid development of enterprises. It requires the country to introduce certain policies for guidance and support. Representatives of remanufactured pilot companies participating in the two national conferences also recognized that the remanufacturing industry has just started in China, and its development also needs to strengthen its patented technology research and development capabilities and formulate corresponding standards and norms. It also calls for national policies to vigorously support it. In addition, the consumption concepts and product quality problems that restrict the development of the remanufacturing industry also need to be solved.

It is reported that foreign leading companies in the field of remanufacturing have passed strict ISO and QS 9000 certifications, and remanufactured products are subject to regulated market regulations in promotion. "The remanufactured products are not simple and rough second-hand items." Li Dakai said that in order to achieve industrialization, remanufacturing requires a series of remanufacturing standards systems, such as remanufactured product technology standards, used product testing and evaluation technology standards, and remanufactured products. Quality standards and remanufacturing management standards.

At the time of the reporter’s writing, the newspaper reported another news that inspired the confidence of the remanufacturing industry: According to reports, He Bingguang, an inspector of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Central Resources Department, said that the National Development and Reform Commission, as a comprehensive management department of the national circular economy, is in accordance with the requirements of the State Council. With the relevant departments to promote the development of the national remanufacturing industry. “We are drafting guidance on advancing the development of the remanufacturing industry and plan to jointly publish it with relevant departments to promote the healthy, orderly and rapid development of the nationwide remanufacturing industry."