Liebherr to present its Reman Programme for Construction Machine Components at the CTT 2015

Depending on machine type, age, residual value and the period out of use being acceptable, customers are able to choose between an as-new exchange component, a general overhaul or a component repair, in all cases at attractive conditions and in accordance with the manufacturer's quality standards. Contact persons for customers are the responsible Liebherr dealer and service partner locally. For the Russian market, component reconditioning began in Nizhni Novgorod in February.

Remanufacturing makes economical use of resources

It is more than ten years since Liebherr developed a component remanufacturing programme (“Reman” for short). The Liebherr Reman Competence Centre is located at Ettlingen (Germany). There, used components from Liebherr construction and material handling machines, mining equipment, mobile cranes and maritime cranes are reconditioned. Other versions of the reman programme are geared to local needs and are available at various Liebherr locations throughout the world.

Compared with the production of new components, there is an average energy saving of 70% if remanufacturing is chosen, and up to 75% if the existing material can be re-used. This avoids unnecessary consumption of valuable resources and significantly reduces the environmental impact.

New reman plant at Nizhni Novgorod, Russia

The new reman centre at Nizhni Novgorod, Russia began operations in February 2015. The programme is tailored to local needs and offers the reconditioning stages exchange components and general overhaul for diesel engines and gearboxes. The processes at the new reman plant are closely orientated to the proven procedures practised at Ettlingen and are optimised by an ongoing exchange of personnel and relevant training.

Liebherr is planning to establish further reman plants around the world on the model of the European Reman Competence Centre in Ettlingen. This should reduce the long transportation distances and ease the burden of import requirements. A network of regional operations will improve closeness to the customer and support business in new machines.

Exchange components

If the reconditioning level, namely the “exchange component”, is chosen, the customer returns the used component and is supplied with one that complies with the latest technical standards, has been manufactured to new-product quality standards and carries the same warranty. If a preventive ordering policy is pursued, the machine is out of action for less than 24 hours, since the used item is not removed until the exchange component arrives. This reconditioning level is recommended if the machine’s residual value is still high and whenever machine shutdown would involve very high costs. Customers receive an attractive payment for the used component. They are informed in advance of the fixed price for the exchange item and the sum credited to them for the returned component, and can thus calculate the cost of the reconditioning work.

After return to Liebherr, the used component is completely dismantled. Wear parts are discarded; those that can be re-used have their paint finish removed and are cleaned and assessed according to strict standards. Machine tolerance measurements and crack testing determine whether the parts are suitable for remanufacturing. If so, they are restored to as-new quality by industrial machining and processing methods. They then undergo final inspection, using the same test procedure as for new components. Every remanufactured exchange component complies with the manufacturer’s standards for new parts.

General overhaul

In contrast to the exchange procedure, a general overhaul is carried out on the actual component returned by the customer. Components for the European market are stripped down completely and cleaned in Ettlingen, and all parts subject to wear replaced, together with any that have been damaged. The component is then re-assembled to the same technical standard as before, repainted, inspected to the manufacturer’s original standard and returned with a new parts warranty.

Repair

If this level of remanufacturing is chosen, the damaged parts in the component are first identified, after which it is repaired to professional standard. Before return to the customer it is inspected in accordance with the manufacturer’s test criteria and warranty on the entire component is issued.