Bridging the gap

The first edition of Rematec Asia saw European and North American remanufacturers meeting their Chinese counterparts face to face – with all gaining a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities which exist in doing business with one another.

Bridging the gap between east and west in remanufacturing was always the main aim of the first edition of Rematec Asia. Bringing remanufacturers from North America and Europe into close proximity with potential partners in China to examine areas of opportunity and cooperation has great value – as does giving them a clear idea of the challenges involved.

Niels Klarenbeek, director of Rematec, was pleased with the event, which took place from 11-13 October in the southern city of Guangzhou. "Rematec Asia succeeded in its ambition to offer insights in Chinese remanufacturing and play an active role in connecting international and Chinese businesses,” he said. “The first edition offers a strong foundation to further develop the event in the years to come. Expectations were high – but this was a multiple-stage rocket of surprises!”

Reman showcase
RAI Amsterdam was particularly keen to thank its organising partners - the China Parts Remanufacturers Association (CPRA) and Sinomachint (China National Machinery Industry International) - as well as the many exhibitors and visitors for their support and attendance.

In a bid to provide a showcase for the burgeoning Chinese remanufacturing industry, Rematec Asia was co-located with one of China’s foremost trade shows, Automotive Aftermarket Guangzhou (AAG). Jianjun Xie, secretary general of the CPRA’s Auto Parts Remanufacturing Branch, launched the Reman50 Forum at the show, which brings together remanufacturing professionals in a similar high-level, informal way to Rematec’s OEM-Reman Network, which was launched at the Amsterdam show in June.

Speakers at the forum’s inaugral one-day conference included Xin Yao, vice president, Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute, Tsinghua University; Zhiyong Huang from Guangzhou Huadu Global Automatic Transmission; Wei Zhang of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Remanufacturing Industry & Technology Research Institute; and Helong Yu, deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of Remanufacturing Technology. It was a meeting point for influential leaders from government regulators, vehicle manufacturers, academic institutions and representatives from global automotive brands such as BMW, Donfeng, FAW Group, Geely, Mercedes-Benz, PSA Automotive and Volvo Car Group.

Commercial opportunities
In Guangzhou, getting a feel for the commercial opportunities for everyone involved was high on the agenda. "We've been able to organise valuable business meetings between local and international remanufacturing ventures,” explains Yorien de Ruijter, Rematec Asia exhibition manager. “It was beneficial for all parties to meet in person.”

There is great potential for international reman organisations in China’s domestic market as the central government takes sustainability seriously. Proof of this comes in the legislation which has been introduced to promote reman and in the substantial investments already made in remanufacturing zones such as Lingang (Shanghai area), Wuzhou (Guangxi Province), Hejian (Hebei Province) and Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) – location of Rematec Asia. China’s rapidly-maturing industry will also be a magnet for demand in affiliated services such as cleaning, machining, diagnostics, core management and reverse logistics.

Industry veteran and APRA Europe founder Fernand Weiland made a presentation at the show and was impressed by the scale and organisation. “Rematec Asia was a great event for European and Chinese exhibitors and visitors alike,” he told Rematec News. “I believe Rematec Asia has a great future.”

Curtain up on China’s Rematec Theatre
The Rematec Theatre, open to all visitors to Rematec Asia and AAG, was a focal point of the show. A raft of high-level presenters from China’s reman industry included Shunxiao Shen, deputy general manager of Baike Intelligent Technology Co, whose subject was engine control unit reman; and Bingshen Li, president of Hong Kong Commercial Vehicle Maintenance Association. International speakers included Jean-Paul Borsten, president of BOVAG, who talked about engine reman trends; John Chalifoux, president of MERA; and Thijs Jasink of Alec. Topics such as core logistics, cleaning technology and best practices in Chinese reman were all covered in well-attended, multilingual sessions with translations available.

Welcome to Guangzhou
AAG’s Welcome Dinner was a formal occasion attended by 500 delegates, which allowed international attendees and domestic reman players to network and connect with each other against a colourful backdrop of Chinese cultural performances - and to enjoy the famous Cantonese cuisine.

Reman on tour
The last day of Rematec Asia included a tour to local remanufacturers, taking in the recently-opened Guangzhou Huadu auto parts market. On this immense site, a staggering 1,200 shops offer a wide range of automotive parts, including cores. Return logistics in China is at a relatively early stage of its development and therefore remains a challenge – an important factor into which this stage of the excursion provided useful insight. Meanwhile, Guangzhou Kuayue Auto Parts Corp opened its EPS steering parts reman facility to the visitors, showing off an impressive number of cores on stock and updating the international delegates on the most recent certification regulations that apply to Chinese reman. The final stop on the tour was Guangzhou Huadu World Wide Transmission, a large Chinese original equipment contract remanufacturer, whose speciality is the reman of automotive transmissions for leading Chinese vehicle manufacturers. The company’s state-of-the-art facility is setting the trend for remanufacturing in China and gives a clear indication of where the industry can go.