Boosting remanufacturing for a sustainable industry

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Boosting remanufacturing for a sustainable industry

Circular economy has become an increasing part of conversations about how to best enable the transition to a more sustainable industry. However, the rate of materials being reused around the world has fallen by more than 20 percent over the last five years.

“More than 90 percent of the global economy follows a linear model of extracting resources, producing, selling, using and then throwing away," explains Marc Goldschmidt, Head of Remanufacturing & Overhaul Technologies at Rolls-Royce's Power Systems division and a strong advocate for circular economy. He believes it’s “not only sustainable, but also economical” and an appealing prospect for waste-conscious customers.

Reman plants keeping customers in operation

Around 1,500 engines and systems and thousands of components are overhauled, repaired or go through a remanufacturing (Reman) process at our Rolls-Royce Reman centres every year – including mtu PowerPacks for railcars and mtu Series 2000 and 4000 engines used in trains or gensets.

Located in Magdeburg, Germany and South Carolina, United States, they’ve already reconditioned and reused 40,000 complete mtu engines and systems or individual components using standardised processes. Between 150 and 250 rail PowerPacks, for example, arrive in Magdeburg every year and leave the plant in as-new condition, ready for another 18,000 hours of operation.

Industrial refurbishment in a standardised process

In standardised processes, the systems and engines are first disassembled into their individual parts, cleaned and tested for function and wear. The individual parts are then refurbished, painted and reassembled with remanufactured components or new parts. Remanufactured engines are subject to the same strict criteria as for new engines. Therefore, the same high quality and warranty conditions apply.

Reducing downtime for rail operators

For train operators, keeping downtimes as short as possible is crucial. Our Magdeburg site designed to overhaul products within a maximum of 15 days. In instances where customers need to get back into operation sooner, we provide replacement PowerPacks or engines before their existing drive unit is even removed. Alongside this, our deposit system helps to boost recycling by creating financial incentives for the return of used engines.

A reliable partner for Netinera

Netinera – one of Germany's largest transportation companies operating local and regional public transport services with buses and trains – has been relying on our remanufacturing capabilities for years.

“Rolls-Royce has been a reliable partner for us for many years and is the right specialist for the general overhaul of our fleet's propulsion systems. The mtu remanufacturing process is an economical and sustainable solution for us,” says Markus Resch, Managing Director at Netinera.

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