Changing Global Perspectives
The importance of reusing resources cannot be overstated and directly impacts our ability to sustainably meet the needs of current and future generations.
With these thoughts in mind, Valeo’s Aftermarket sustainability strategy, I Care 4 the Planet, has put a huge emphasis on the remanufacturing process – a process of which Valeo’s aftermarket division has more than 40 years’ experience; and nowhere is this experience better demonstrated than in the remanufacturing of clutches for commercial vehicles, a component that undergoes some of the toughest conditions of drive line.
As Good As New
In a nutshell, remanufacturing is the process of bringing back used products to their original condition through a series of rigorous inspections, replacement, reassembly and test of parts. In the case of CV clutches, it is a nine-fold process:
- Valeo collects the cores and sorts them
- They are disassembled
- Their components are tested
- The good cores are cleaned up
- They are remachined
- The clutches are assembled
- The clutches are balanced and measured
- The clutches are test controlled as if new
- The clutches are marked and packaged to sell
When completed, Valeo’s remanufactured clutches meet similar performance standards to completely new clutches, yet are composed of 80% reused materials, and according to Life Cycle Analysis, have a reduced carbon footprint of 50% to 80%.
All this comes about as a result of saving on resources and energy by using readily available materials that don’t need to be extracted and transformed from their raw elements and can be processed in Valeo’s plants in France.
As it stands, Valeo remanufactures a massive 800,000 car and commercial vehicle parts per year, but has the ambition to double this figure by 2030.
The Value of Valeo
By offering reman clutches on a wide range of truck models, from Mercedes to Scania to Iveco, Valeo aims to provide CV owners with a reliable and environmentally friendly alternative to purchasing new parts. And what’s more, with a 2-year warranty on unlimited mileage (as with Valeo’s new clutches), Valeo is offering customers one of the best deals on the market.
At the end of the day, Valeo is doing its utmost to ensure that the future is a bright one, and believes remanufacturing to be a central column of that future. Tools such as Valeo’s award winning Truck Clutch Kit Finder allow professionals to identify the Reman alternative for each truck clutch kit and instantly put their ideals into practice. By providing good value, quality, and care, Valeo aims to make the finite a little more infinite…
