Humans are faster than computers
The Frýdlant factory started overhauling brakes long before the so-called “circular economy” was trendy. The year was 1999, and the local employees, of whom there are now over 500, recently celebrated six million refurbished pieces. And the interest in them increases every year, it has doubled in a few years. While five years ago they reconditioned roughly a quarter of a million units per year, last year it was already 750,000. How does such a review actually work?
“When we sell you a new brake under the TRW brand, you remove the old one from the car and send it back to us. It is backed up, just like beer bottles are. We will take it over and make sure it can be used again,” Pavlík begins describing the process and invites us to the first and most important hall. It is a sorting facility where hundreds of packages, most often with used brakes, go every day. Very experienced people work here. “After years, they just look at the brake and see what type it is. Of course they have a computer handy, but it takes a few seconds. People are just faster,” explains the director, introducing us to several colleagues who are unpacking one red box after another. The brake travels along the belt, the paper is immediately pressed and headed for collection.
“We already know what can be extracted from the given component and what cannot. We usually throw away all plastic and rubber parts as well as the piston. And then it starts, we clean, blast, wash, then the clamp goes for galvanizing,” Pavlík leads us to the next, more distant hall. People here take apart the brakes at incredible speed, perhaps from memory. A bit further are those “magic” machines, where an incredibly dirty thing is inserted from one side and a part that looks almost like new comes out in a few moments from the other. For example, miniature metal balls, which resemble very fine gravel in size, help with cleaning. After all, such a machine is probably the dream of every passionate grill owner, because it would clean it perfectly. But of course that’s not allowed here.
2023-07-16 16:45:00
#brakes #Frýdlant #masters #rematches #surprised #Jeremy #Clarkson
