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From our Vision to Reality: Driving a New Standard in Heavy Vehicle Dismantling with the International Collective Brain

Heavy vehicle dismantling will only become a credible circular-economy partner if the sector professionalises: digitalising operations, testing and coding parts, selling from stock, and sharing trusted cross-border data. Mihkelsoo argues that common standards, neutral platforms and stronger partnerships can turn reuse from a fragmented scrap activity into a scalable business model.

Virgo Mihkelsoo, CEO of TruckParts Eesti, advocating digital and collaborative heavy vehicle dismantling. — Virgo Mihkelsoo

Virgo Mihkelsoo, CEO of TruckParts Eesti OÜ in Estonia, argues that heavy vehicle dismantling must move beyond scrap recovery towards a more professional, digital and collaborative model. In this commentary, he outlines how tested, reused parts, shared data standards, and stronger cross-border partnerships could help create a new standard for the sector and make circularity a practical business reality rather than a policy ambition.

A circular logic for heavy vehicle dismantling

Imagine an old, majestic forest. When a large tree falls, it doesn’t mean the end for the forest. On the contrary, that fallen tree gives life to countless new processes. It becomes a habitat, a source of nourishment, and a foundation for new growth. In nature, nothing goes to waste; everything is in a continuous cycle, and this is exactly what keeps the forest vibrant and enduringly beautiful.

Exactly the same logic must apply to the world of heavy machinery. When a truck, bus, or construction machine reaches the end of its life cycle, it must not simply become scrap metal. Every working spare part must find its way back into the economy. This is not a matter of complex political campaigns or costly regulations, but of simple, logical sustainability. Our goal is to keep the world clean and beautiful by utilizing already manufactured resources with maximum efficiency.

For decades, manufacturers of new spare parts and machinery viewed reuse as a threat to their profits. Today, however, this opposition is crumbling. Major manufacturers are under immense pressure to make their operations genuinely environmentally sustainable. The solution no longer lies solely in the energy efficiency of factories, but in the fact that the production of new vehicles will increasingly rely on recycled materials and even pre-tested used spare parts. This means we are no longer competitors to new parts manufacturers, but their strategic partners. The dismantling sector is the missing link that helps manufacturers meet circular economy targets and create a system where the end of one machine is truly the beginning of a new life for another. However, for the dismantling sector to become a credible, dignified, and welcome partner to manufacturers and major clients, this link must significantly raise its current professional standards.

A three-way responsibility for market transformation

For this beautiful vision of a new standard and factory-worthy partnership to become reality, a green mindset alone is not enough. The entire sector must undergo a fundamental transformation based on a three-way responsibility. The first and most crucial step lies in the hands of the dismantlers themselves. We must admit that the market cannot be changed if we continue to operate under the old model. Companies that wish to be credible used spare parts producers in the new economic model must fully digitalize their operations.

Every vehicle must be systematically dismantled, and every viable spare part must be pre-tested, photographed, assigned an original OEM code, and comprehensively described to meet the precise technical expectations of the client.

Buyers must have absolute certainty, based on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), that the ordered part fits their machine. Purchasing a used spare part, its delivery speed, and the provided warranty must give the client the same secure and convenient experience as ordering a new part from a factory catalog. “Selling exclusively from stock” must become the new baseline standard. At the same time, we understand that not every part is immediately ready for use, which is why building a network with strong remanufacturing partners capable of giving complex components a new life and quality is a natural part of this new standard.

The second responsibility lies with clients and buyers. Heavy vehicle owners, repair workshops, and insurance providers hold the key to market development with their wallets. For the market to grow, buyers must change their current habits and overcome outdated prejudices. When a tested and warrantied used or remanufactured part is available on the market, it should be the logical first choice. A purchasing desire driven by an environmentally friendly approach and financial savings is the very force that will push the dismantling market to professionalize ever more rapidly.

The third pillar is the state and legislation. Even the most exemplary digital solutions cannot change the market if the state remains a passive spectator. First, the state, as the largest procurer, should lead by example: in public sector procurement, a clear preference should be given to bidders who demonstrate they use reused spare parts to maintain their fleets. Second, the tax system should genuinely favor the circular economy by creating a more favorable tax environment for certified and tested used spare parts. Third, legislation must make the origin and digital traceability of spare parts the norm. This is the only way to cleanse the market of illegal operators and create a fair, competitive environment.

Building the international collective brain

Even if every dismantling company, client, and government fulfilled their responsibilities perfectly, one critical link would still be missing in the global picture: connectivity. The greatest historical hurdle for the dismantling sector has been fragmentation. Tens of thousands of companies worldwide do exactly the same work every day: they try to identify hundreds of thousands of unique spare parts, decipher the code logic of various manufacturers, and determine the exact intended use or name of each part. Until everyone stops reinventing the wheel in their own corner, achieving the same efficiency as new vehicle factories will be impossible.

Our solution to this problem is the international collective brain. This is a concept in which the entire sector shares unified databases, spare part naming standards, and quality requirements. This system automatically translates complex technical data into a universal format, making it foolproof to find the right part. However, for such a collective brain to be born, the market needed a completely new digital foundation. Seeing this gap, we decided to take the first step and build the necessary tools. But we understood a critical business principle right from the start: for the market to trust and adopt a new global solution, the platform must be objective. To ensure full transparency and avoid conflicts of interest, we divided our operations and development into two separate entities within a broader corporate group.

Our daily operations as a professional dismantler and used spare parts producer across several countries are consolidated under the business name Bustruckparts. It is there, in our own real-world conditions, that we test and refine the beta version of a new generation, comprehensive business and production software designed specifically with the dismantler’s business needs in mind. The goal is to create a solution that could become the new base standard for the entire sector.

Operating completely independently alongside this is PartsForPro, whose sole purpose is to develop a global e-commerce marketplace and support IT solutions for all market participants. PartsForPro is a neutral platform that solves the biggest issue in cross-border spare parts sales: the lack of trust. This system provides the seller with the certainty that funds will be received, and the buyer with the guarantee that they will safely receive the ordered part. To meet global needs, we initially launched the central channel www.partsforpro.com. However, since true cross-border business requires addressing the client in their native language and meeting local expectations, we immediately began localizing the platform.

From isolated dismantlers to a connected ecosystem

We have built the first bridge connecting manufacturers, dismantlers, and buyers, but no international collective brain can operate in a vacuum. To transform the heavy vehicle spare parts market worldwide, we must move from a model of isolated dismantlers to strong, cross-sectoral, cluster-based collaboration. The circular economy is a team game, and every link in this chain must be as strong as the others. To build a true and functioning ecosystem, we are looking for strategic partners to join our network around the www.partsforpro.com platform. We need logistics companies capable of providing smart transportation solutions that make cross-border delivery of heavy vehicle parts as simple as handling small parcels. We also invite insurance and claims management platforms to join us, integrating our standardized inventories directly into damage assessment systems. Since not every dismantled part is immediately ready for a new cycle, cooperation with remanufacturing and repair experts is critical. Additionally, we are looking for software developers to advance technical data and artificial intelligence solutions, and, of course, all professional dismantlers who treat dismantling as a production process and are ready to meet the quality requirements of the new standard.

Returning to the beginning, a forest does not grow or remain vibrant because of a single tree. It is a complex yet perfectly functioning collaborative network in which each element supports the others. The heavy vehicle and commercial spare parts market must evolve into a similar ecosystem. We are no longer talking merely about the green transition or complying with regulations. We are talking about common sense, logical sustainability, and a new business reality. By moving from vision to reality, together we can ensure that a used spare part is always the first, safest, and most logical choice in heavy vehicle repair.

Let’s make it happen together.