Singapore has set up Asia’s first centre to drive value-added remanufacturing activities that can be readily adopted by industry.
The Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre (ARTC) will look into research and development (R&D) to develop technologies for remanufacturing.
These technologies will enable companies and businesses to translate end-of-life products into “good as new” ones for the market through a sustainable process.
The process also aims to cut cost and materials, and even generate higher profits.
In remanufacturing, recovered parts or products are transformed through disassembly, cleaning, testing and other operations into “like-new” products which will then be re-introduced to the markets.
Six industry leaders have signed a memorandum of understanding with the centre to look into R&D to bridge technological gaps in remanufacturing for the aerospace, oil and gas, marine, energy, automotive and engineering industries.
They are Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Siemens Industry Software, ABB, FUCHS Lubricants and Carl Zeiss.
The centre is partially funded by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
ARTC will tap on the R&D expertise of A*STAR and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, as well as local universities such as Nanyang Technological University, to carry out R&D in production-ready technologies.
Eight local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have also joined the centre to co-develop technologies, along with leading multinational corporations (MNCs).
A*STAR said on Thursday that by engaging SMEs and MNCs, ARTC is encouraging leading companies to develop new high-value manufacturing activities in Singapore, while cultivating the local supply chain in this new growth area.
The centre is modelled after successful manufacturing R&D centres in the United Kingdom.
It will provide a platform for SMEs to work with global leading MNC’s to develop their capabilities and enable them to seize business opportunities in remanufacturing.
A*STAR said remanufactured products are tested and certified to meet technical and safety specifications and are sometimes even sold with warranties comparable to the original.
It said the process is more efficient than recycling because it conserves the raw material content and retains much of the value added during the manufacturing of the product.
A*STAR said re-manufacturing is commonly used in the aerospace, marine, automotive and engineering industries.
A report by Global Industry Analysts predicts that the global automotive remanufacturing market will reach US$104.8 billion by 2015.
In the US, the remanufacturing industry constitutes US$53 billion, employing 480,000 workers.
