For more than ten years now, Ponsse has rema­nu­fac­tu­red com­po­nents for used PONSSE forest mac­hi­nes. Ponsse’s pio­nee­ring role in the circu­lar eco­nomy is, above all, based on its cus­to­mers’ requests.

The Ponsse Reman & Parts Recircu­la­tion unit in Iisalmi proces­ses dama­ged parts sent by cus­to­mers, the fac­tory or the sales network. After rema­nu­fac­tu­ring, parts are sold to cus­to­mers at affor­dable prices or used in the moder­ni­sa­tion of used forest mac­hi­nes. Rema­nu­fac­tu­ring pro­vi­des cus­to­mers with low-cost pro­ducts, mini­mi­ses mate­rial loss, and also sol­ves chal­len­ges rela­ted to the avai­la­bi­lity of spare parts. The goal is to also imple­ment rema­nu­fac­tu­ring ope­ra­tions in sub­si­dia­ries out­side the EU, close to local cus­to­mers.

Life cycle assess­ments for forest mac­hi­nes verify the envi­ron­men­tal bene­fits pro­duced by rema­nu­fac­tu­ring ope­ra­tions: the car­bon footprint of a rema­nu­fac­tu­red com­po­nent is only a quar­ter of that of a new part. “The bet­ter we can reuse mac­hine com­po­nents, the fewer emis­sions there will be during the mac­hine life cycle,” says Ville Ohu­kai­nen who is res­pon­sible for the Reman & Parts Recircu­la­tion unit’s ope­ra­tions.

The parts sent for rema­nu­fac­tu­ring are typically the lar­gest and most valuable mac­hine com­po­nents, such as engi­nes and gear­boxes. The range of rema­nu­fac­tu­red pro­ducts also inclu­des large cylin­ders, hydrau­lic com­po­nents and such cabin parts as seats and com­pu­ter sys­tems. “Rema­nu­fac­tu­ring doubles the ser­vice life of com­po­nents. Most of all, we rema­nu­fac­ture mec­ha­nical trans­mis­sion com­po­nents that also otherwise have a long life cycle,” Ohu­kai­nen says.   

Rema­nu­fac­tu­red parts include a secu­rity depo­sit, which cus­to­mers get back when they return the dama­ged part for rema­nu­fac­tu­ring. This ensu­res that spare parts do not end up as waste. Rema­nu­fac­tu­red parts carry the same war­ranty as new pro­ducts.