R&D center focusing on remanufacturing opens in Singapore

The Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre (ARTC), the first center in Asia to look into research and development (R&D) to develop technologies for remanufacturing, was launched at a ground breaking ceremony of JTC Corporation’s second building, CleanTech Two, at CleanTech Park in Singapore. The S$70 million (US$54.3 million) CleanTech Two will offer 22,300 square meters of office space, laboratory and workshop space on a 0.9 hectare site. The building is slated for phased completion by the third quarter of 2014. ARTC, which will be the anchor tenant of CleanTech Two occupying as much as 40% of the premises, will focus on developing technologies that will enable companies and businesses to translate end-of-life products into “good as new” ones for the market. Industry leaders Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Siemens Industry Software, ABB, Fuchs Lubricants and Carl Zeiss have signed a memorandum of understanding with the center to look into collaborative R&D to bridge technological gaps in remanufacturing for the aerospace, oil & gas, marine, energy, automotive and engineering industries. A report by Global Industry Analysts (GIA) predicts that the global automotive remanufacturing market is expected to reach US$104.8 billion by 2015. In the U.S. alone, the industry is worth US$53 billion and employs 480,000 workers.