Thesis

Increasing the efficiency of engine remanufacture by optimising pre-processing inspection : a comprehensive study of 2196 engines at Caterpillar Remanufacturing in the UK

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2013
Thesis identifier
  • T13584
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Abstract
  • Remanufacturing describes the process of bringing used product to an "as-new" functional condition using reclaimed and new components. It is an industrial process operating across the automotive, industrial, commercial and domestic sectors which, despite its low profile, contributes around £2.35 billion annually to the UK economy. Remanufacturing is an enabler for manufacturing, reducing the use of virgin materials and energy thus allowing more cost-effective manufacturing. Key issues for remanufacturers revolve around the lack of industry-specific tools and techniques and this particularly affects effective decision-making for production issues such as the inspection of returned cores and their constituent components. The main aim of the research was to establish the factors that affect pre-processing inspection and this was achieved using causal true-experimental research into the overall remanufacturing process for over two thousand engines at a Caterpillar Remanufacturing plant in the U.K. The research found that the three critical factors in determining the effectiveness of the pre-processing inspection are the complexity of the component geometry including internal ports, the number of sub-components and the number of material employed in the construction of the component. These factors were then used to establish a practical method of assessing the true costs of remanufacturing. The findings were validated at several European Caterpillar Remanufacturing facilities. The beneficiaries of this research are both academia and industry: it adds to the body of remanufacturing knowledge enabling future research to be targeted at operations that materially affect the process and also assists remanufacturers to make their operations more efficient, thus aiding profitability. The novelty of the research is the new knowledge concerning the factors affecting pre-processing inspection together with the limitation of the benefits as well as the information gathered from over two thousand engines in an industrial setting.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2013
Former identifier
  • 1001983

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