"The technology in these new cars, especially the hybrids, is rapidly abandoning components that are strictly mechanical, hydraulic, and/or electrical," said Fernand Weiland, co-chairman of APRA's Electronics and Mechatronics division. 

 
"If the remanufacturers of the world are going to succeed in this new global marketplace, they're going to have to embrace these new technologies to survive," Weiland said.  "Clutches, transmissions, rack and pinions, engine control systems, A/C compressors, water pumps, and brakes are all going in this direction very quickly or are already there.  It will change the remanufacturing industry forever.

"Right now, rack-and-pinion steering systems are the ones that have made the move to mechatronics the fastest," he said.  "In the next decade, experts estimate that they will represent as much as $1 billion in value to remanufacturers.  And that's just one component."

Remanufacturers at the Big R Show were able to meet with mechatronics engineers from throughout the world at the learning booth, as well as see and touch hybrid starter-generator motors, ABS brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, and electronic engine-management systems.

  
"Many of the top companies in the world have volunteered to be here and talk to remanufacturers about these mechatronic and electronic products," Weiland said.  "These are the best of the best and their companies are on the cutting edge of this explosive technology."

Representatives from the University of Bayreuth in Germany and Actronics in the Netherlands partnered with U.S. companies Delphi, PTM Electronics, and Flight Systems Electronics Group to host the learning booth.

Joe Kripli, co-chairman of APRA's Electronics and Mechatronics division and president of Flight Systems Electronics Group in Lewisberry, Pa., put the burgeoning mechatronics movement in perspective.

"This is going to be huge," he said.  "Right now, every car built today contains an average of 16 electronic modules.  By 2010, that number will spike to a minimum of 30.  If you take all the new cars that will be built this year, around 14 million, that comes out to 224 million modules.  By 2010, that number will nearly double.  These figures are quite frankly staggering."

Remanufacturers are going to have to adopt an entirely new approach to operating their businesses if they hope to thrive in the modern mechatronic world, Kripli said.

"The starter and alternator remanufacturers will be the first ones to get hurt," he said.  "They're the ones wondering what they need to do, and they're struggling with it because it involves changing to a whole new business model. 

"They'll either have to retrain their techs or hire someone with an electrical engineering degree, and they're going to have to invest in testing equipment," Kripli said.  "They have some time to change and ramp up right now, but they need to move fast."