JUNE 2007 GLOBAL CONNECTION NEWSPAPER
ArvinMeritor & Eaton Host Tours
by APRA President, Bill Gager
This year’s Heavy Duty Transmission Clinic on May 4th and 5th was attended by 35 people who had the opportunity to visit two great plants—ArvinMeritor in Plainfield, Indiana and Eaton in Greenfield, Indiana.
On Saturday, May 5th after Chairman Gary Phillips welcomed everyone, John Miller of ArvinMeritor Remanufacturing Center gave a company and market profile. John indicated that remanufactured trailer axles look like a tremendous opportunity and fit well with their differentials and transmissions. They are also looking at other opportunities of products that could be remanufactured.
John’s industry environment comments focused on a slight decline in truck freight of 2.6% with fleet utilization continuing to trend lower. Used truck valuations remain supportive with prices up about 12% and mileage down 6%.
The average age of Meritor axles was seven years in 2006 but will be 7.5+ in a few years. There are 1.5 million axles produced a year and the number of axles over eight years old is growing rapidly in volume. John also talked about their remanufactured brake business, which has grown dramatically since it was started in 2001.
Bob Galyen of TAWAS ICMS was next on the program and covered “Future Opportunities for Remanufacturing Hybrid Drive System Battery Packs.” With global warming issues, high fuel prices and depletion of fossil fuels, the future of hybrids looks excellent.
As background, Bob mentioned that the first hybrid vehicle was invented in 1897 by Justus Entz and General Electric developed one in 1899. The first patent was issued in 1905.
Energy demand will grow 2% annually from now until 2030. Currently, 35% of our energy needs come from petroleum. The goals of increasing hybrid vehicle usage are to reduce petroleum dependency, reduce emissions, and drive down fuel prices. There are currently 15+ hybrid cars now and on the truck side International, Volvo and Peterbilt are looking at hybrids.
Bob addressed the challenge of hybrid vehicles that could be great opportunities for remanufacturing. Dealing with high voltage of 300+ volts means not everyone can do this type of remanufacturing. It will be very sophisticated. There will be advanced electronics including such things as “regenerative braking.” And, there will be some very exotic and expensive materials used such as copper, lithium, nickel, and hydrogen. Recycling of the materials will be very important.
The remanufacturing of hybrid battery pack systems won’t be done by routine maintenance shops. They will have to be done professionally by highly trained and equipped personnel. The OEM’s will not want to have their dealerships contend with this responsibility, so leading remanufacturers may want to seriously look at this growing opportunity. The typical reman already has some of the lifting and salvaging expertise that will be required.
John Stork, Product Manager at Eaton’s Clutch Division and Eugene Clark, Product Manager of Eaton’s Transmission Division were next on the program. They focused on Eaton’s Hybrid Powertrain Systems and all the new electronics that are being added to the new models as well as the newer nomenclature used for the various models they manufacture.
