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Remanufacturing for a better tomorrow: Walking the sustainability talk
Amid the global economy’s move toward sustainable development, SKF - a leading global supplier of solutions for rotating equipment, has already embarked on a “remanufacturing journey” which helps in extending the service life of industrial bearings to reduce costs, downtime and environmental impact.
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(Left to right) SKF Industrial Indonesia president director Toto Suharto and SKF industrial region India and South-East Asia president Manish Bhatnagar.
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mid the global economy’s move toward sustainable development, SKF - a leading global supplier of solutions for rotating equipment, has already embarked on a “remanufacturing journey” which helps in extending the service life of industrial bearings to reduce costs, downtime and environmental impact. The brand is focused on developing new technologies that offer competitive advantages to customers, and at the same time, contribute to a sustainable society. Having already made significant progress on reducing emissions from its own operations to net zero by 2030, the company has set an ambitious target to achieve net zero emissions in the full SKF value chain, from raw material to finished product delivered to the customer by 2050.
With a clear aim of achieving sustainability, SKF’s manufacturing facilities in India and Southeast Asia region have been focused on gaining the required scale and the technical know-how to strengthen its commitment to sustainability. The company is gradually adopting digital solutions and advanced technologies to improve the performance and productivity in manufacturing. For instance, the company has been working towards improving machine performance and maintenance by providing solutions like remanufacturing, Recond Oil and digitalization. Globally, more and more industries such as Metals, Mining, Mineral processing and Cement, Renewable and Traditional Energy, Pulp and Paper are turning to remanufacturing to significantly contribute to their sustainability and circularity goals. This is because bearing remanufacturing can offer a more environmentally friendly approach while delivering significant benefits, such as reduced total cost of ownership through lower maintenance costs, as well as increased operational safety and reliability plus higher energy efficiency. Similarly, to solve customers’ need for oil in an environmentally and financially sustainable way, SKF RecondOil offers a way to transition from a linear use into a circular economy of industrial oil.
In addition to sustainability, digitalization is becoming increasingly important in industry, and the number of devices connected to the internet keeps growing. SKF is investing in automation and digitalization in its own operations, for driving productivity gains, higher levels of automation, and efficiency improvements of energy, material and other resources. In addition, the company is investing in the development and integration of electronic solutions and software, connecting systems and machinery to reduce waste of resources, maintenance and to optimize design.
Manish Bhatnagar, President for Industrial Region, India and Southeast Asia, says, “It is great to see how India and Southeast Asia is marching forward to compete with global markets while keeping the idea of sustainability in place. At SKF, our expertise is built on the development, design and manufacture of bearings, seals and lubrication systems. And we also provide machine health assessment, engineering and remanufacturing services. We believe we can make significant contribution towards helping customers in their decarbonization effort and drive innovation and growth in India and Southeast Asia region.”
SKF has gained a significant hold in the Southeast Asian market over the years. Recently, the company inaugurated its 16th remanufacturing centre, located in in Jakarta factory in Indonesia. This remanufacturing centre was established to increase the market share of LSB (large size bearings) at heavy industries such as Pulp & Paper, Metals, Mobile Equipment, Mining, Cement and Railways. Through the centre, the company aims to support customer’s sustainability efforts by restoring the full useful life of bearings at a lower cost and with minimized lead times compared to buying new bearings. Given that the Indonesian government has adopted circular economy into its development vision and strategy, the country’s burgeoning manufacturing sector have a huge opportunity to capitalize on the benefits of the circular economy.
In Indonesia, one of the SKF’s partner is APRIL Group. SKF recently conducted a trial for remanufacturing six bearings from APRIL Group, the Riau-based pulp and paper company. Sihol Aritonang, the President Director of APRIL Group’s operating arm PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) said, “Our longstanding relationship with SKF is an example of how we value collaboration with our business partners, especially those with similar climate ambitions to support each other's decarbonization journey. SKF’s sustainability agenda complements our April2030 sustainability commitment by providing us with product offerings to boost circularity," Sihol added.
Toto Suharto, President Director of SKF Indonesia said, “SKF has always been committed to helping customers move towards a circular economy by providing products and solutions, condition monitoring, and remanufacturing services. Through digitalization, we are helping customers get the most from their rotating equipment. With our presence in PIDI 4.0 [Indonesia Digital Industry Center 4.0], we are confident that we will cater to all sectors and the technology that gives our customers the competitive edge.”
Liew Teik Wei – Tech Head Indonesia at Wilmar International, one of the biggest palm oil companies in Indonesia, says, “We were exploring tools and system to simplify the work cycle involving Conditioning Monitoring (CM) with an intent to integrate it further to our SAP PM. The solution from SKF to use the Enlight Centre with public APIs has made this thought become a reality. Now, our CM maintenance process is fully integrated through synchronization between our SAP PM, and the same reference is shared back to Enlight Centre to have it captured in its reporting for traceability purposes. This seamless synchronization has allowed for real-time monitoring of our equipment health as well. This good collaboration between SKF Connected Technologies, SKF REP Indonesia, and Wilmar has managed to elevate our maintenance standard, while maximizing our equipment’s uptime.”
SKF has been leveraging big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to revolutionize product development and increase efficiency. Components such as bearings, seals and lubricants play a key role in improving equipment performance and driving profitable growth. SKF’s smart lubrication systems help automate the maintenance process and reduce costs, while condition monitoring spots early signs of component damage to prevent downtime. As a technology brand, SKF will continue to develop products and solutions that meets customers’ evolving requirements of reliability, predictability and sustainability.
This article was published in collaboration with SKF Industrial Indonesia
