Things come around for Original Engines Co

By Brent Balinski

It was last year at Amsterdam’s Rematec, the premier remanufacturing show, when the proverbial lightbulb went on for Colin Doherty (pictured below).

The Managing Director of Original Engines Co saw clearly that his business was a real part of the circular economy and decarbonisation movements.

“Here in Australia it’s not known about the value of remanufacture and the reuse of componentry and how that has so much impact on our sustainability and understanding,” he tells @AuManufacturing. 

“But you look at the carbon emissions side of it and we can save on landfill hugely by giving an engine block another life.” 

Now the circular messaging and ethos – which emphasises avoiding waste and keeping products in use at their highest value state as long as possible – is a major part of OEC.

According to the the company, its efforts saved nearly a million kilograms of carbon dioxide last year, as well as 2.4 million litres of water and 195,000 kilograms of raw material from scrap.

Business is on the up, says Doherty, whose company began over three decades ago and counts Ford as its main client. The company’s efforts earned it a gong in the Best Large Business Metropolitan category at the recent VACC Automotive Industry Awards.

Last financial year the company remanufactured 1,500 engines, and expects to do between 1,600 and 1,800 engines this year.

“Our product can go to Karratha, Darwin, Far North Queensland, scattered everywhere across Australia. But they are associated with dealers, with OEM companies,” says Doherty.

“It’s all B-to-B, our product and business. It’s not to the end user, but every one of our customers has to be satisfied with our product. Because if they’re not, then that leads to the OEM and the OEM will start asking questions to us.”

He describes remanufacture as having similarities to but being separate from reconditioning.

Reconditioning is unregulated, doesn’t necessarily involve genuine parts, and isn’t covered by warranty. Remanufacture “returns the engine to its original manufacturer specifications, through the original manufacturer’s standard processes”, as material from OEC explains.

Doherty expects the company to be busy for a long time yet, and while he’s keeping tabs on the possible opportunities in battery electric vehicle remanufacture, he doesn’t see internal combustion engines disappearing overnight.

“You’re going to be around for decades, absolute decades. You hear governing people say, ‘Strictly in 2030 there’s no more combustion engines made,’” he adds. 

“That’s a tough one. It’s getting closer and closer to that, but I still don’t see it going away in the short term.”

In episode 98 of @AuManufacturing Conversations, Doherty tells us about finding himself a participant in the circular economy and the untapped opportunity for remanufacturing.

This episode is sponsored by ECI Solutions.

Episode guide

1:15 – A career path beginning in the late-1970s as a fitter and turner in the aerospace industry, then automotive remanufacture in the mid-1980s.

2:50 – Starting TDC Engines in 1990, beginning with component reconditioning.

4:15 – Becoming a part of warranty programs for big OEMs, starting with Ford.

6:05 – Reconditioning, repair, remanufacture and how these are defined.

8:30 – The volumes the company is dealing in.

10:02 – Some reflections on the demise of passenger car manufacture in Australia, as well as how they dealt with it.

13:02 – How prevalent engine manufacturing is in this country.

14:48 – The lightbulb moment when it comes to the circular economy and how OEC fit in.

16:35 – Battery electric vehicles and their predicted impact on what Doherty does.

18:46 – Some thoughts on government support to encourage remanufacture.

20:13 – The place of manufacturing in a society, how it’s misunderstood, and why that isn’t helping attract the required skills.

Pictures: supplied