Educating people about remanufacturing was among the key goals of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)’s RIC-RIT World Remanufacturing Conference in June. Bill Davies, chairman of the Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC) said: “I believe we are about to embark on the most dynamic times in the history of remanufacturing.” The conference created “a platform that unifies the industry, that brings all sectors together”. Reman has been fragmented for years, he said. “We want to establish that platform, get the message out, educate people, let them know the mportance of reman, the role it plays in everybody’s life – and basically, accept it.” Sam Allen, CEO of John Deere, gave the keynote speech. “The importance of getting everyone together is that there is a much more common level of understanding,” he explained. “Remanufacturing is a unique set of processes. The only way you’re going to get best practice shared is if everybody gets together that is involved in the reman industry, because it is a unique subset of manufacturing – that’s one of the real advantages with getting everybody here for a couple of days and talking about it.” Nabil Nasr, associate provost and director of RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability, said he was “very pleased with the outcome and the quality of the presentations”. He added: “This is a prime example of what RIT is all about. We are very focused on doing applied research – we care about what we do – we engage with the community just to make sure our work has value and provides value.”
