Reman Update: A Look At Brakes
By Denise L. Rondini, executive editor
drondini@randallreilly.com
Remanufacturing Update
A Look At Brakes
Remanufactured brakes shoes play an important role in the commercial vehicle aftermarket.
emanufacturing is a vital part
of the truck parts aftermarket. Truck Parts & Service is
launching a year-long series on the subject
of remanufacturing. We kick off the series
with an exclusive interview with Doug
Wolma, general manager remanufacturing (aftermarket) for Meritor.
R
TPS: Are there any new developments
in the area of brake remanufacturing?
Wolma: We all need to continue to
improve on the coating process. That is
what everybody needs to continue to be
focused on.
Another item that comes to mind
is with the influx of very inexpensive
steel coming from low cost countries it
continues to be a significant challenge to
keep the remanufactured shoe costs at
a level that can be competitive. And we
won’t talk about quality here, but strictly
on price those low cost countries can
produce brake shoes very economically.
One of the things that those of us in
the brake shoe reman business have to
continue to do is develop core recovery
processes, salvaging shoes, creating shoes
that are in specification instead of scraping them.
Shoes that we maybe historically
scrapped we are looking at today and
saying, “How do we recover these?
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How do we repair them? How do we
create a shoe that meets original specifications so we don’t have to buy new
to supplement or so our costs don’t
continue to creep up?”
Thing like table corrosion is always
one of the biggest issues that causes you
to scrap brake shoes. One of the things
we are evaluating is how can we cost
effectively remove the table from a core
shoe and use the webs from the core shoe
and attach them to a new table.
TPS: How does a remanufactured
brake fit into a distributor’s parts strategy?
Wolma: We have a triangle and at
the very top of the triangle is warranty
replacement, it is new part replacement,
it is high cost part replacement.
When you start getting into the
bottom two parts of that triangle you are
talking about distributor work. Those are
components and parts that need to have
some cost competitiveness to them.
Vehicles in that part of the triangle
are getting older and their value is a
little bit lower. It does not make economic sense to put on components that
are very, very high value. As vehicles get
older that is when guys are looking for
lower costs components, and remanufactured component is your opportunity
to get a very high-quality part for a
T R U C K PA RT S & S E R V I C E | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 2
lower cost to keep your cost of ownership and maintenance down.
I don’t think remanufacturing fills a
niche. Remanufacturing fills a significant
portion of the aftermarket need because
there are so many trucks on the road that
have aged, where it just does not make
sense to use new components. Remanufacturing has got to fill that void.
TPS: With the age of the nation’s
truck fleet higher than it has been for
some time, does that present opportunities for reman?
Wolma: As truck fleets age, you are
looking for the lowest cost component
to maintain those trucks and remanufacturing provides that. Today you are
getting a remanufactured part that is going to last the same life as the new and
you are getting a lot better quality than
a new product coming from offshore in
a lot of cases.
TPS: Is there going to be any impact
on remanufacturing when the new stopping distance regulations are finalized?
Wolma: No, because the reduced
stopping distance is all related to the
friction material. We reline shoes with
new friction material so there really is
no impact.
However, one thing that is yet to be
completely be understood is does this
reduced stopping distance cause friction
to wear quicker than the current friction
that is out on the road.
And if that is the case, that is going
to drive a higher aftermarket demand for
shoes and obviously therefore a higher
demand for reman shoes. But that is a
question mark at this point. We will have
to see how that develops.