The tiniest problem can sometimes lead to the biggest solutions.

HIBBING, MN. — See that little piece? It’s a very important little pin that’s part of an EGR actuator, and if it isn’t doing its job, your truck won’t be working properly.

The design of that little pin is relatively new, too, and it works better than its last incarnation thanks to the collective passion and problem solving skills of Detroit Reman employees in the small, Minnesota town of Hibbing.

Those same employees are also responsible for helping to keep warranty costs down on various engine and truck components and, in a nutshell, improving the life and efficiency of Detroit products, including Daimler’s Mercedes and Freightliner brands.

The Detroit Reman plant, also know as DMR — Design, Manufacture and Remanufacture — began out of a two-car garage in 1987. Daimler’s Detroit Diesel brand acquired the company in 2007. Their specialty is on the electronics side of things, but they are also more than capable to work on mechatronics and other components.

That acquisition, as various trucking media discovered this week, came with a collection of proud, problem-solving individuals that have helped your trucks maintain uptime.

Take that little pin, for example. When EGR actuators began coming into the plant, engineers took it apart and identified areas that needed improvement, like that pin, which after thousands of miles of real-world driving vibrations had been bouncing off its point of contact. They tested a few other known designs for that pin but nothing was doing the trick better than the original OEM design — so they made a new one from scratch. A new soldering method was also developed, increasing its strength and durability.

The design specs were then sent back to the OEM, where they were adopted into the OEM’s Mercedes and Freightliner brands.

U.S. journalist Jason Cannon tries his hand at soldering. Later, Cannon and the author would have a solder-off. Cannon would win, but not by much.

As outgoing Detroit Reman President Stefan Kurschner told Today’s Trucking, “Remanufacturing isn’t rebuilding or refurbishing, there’s a lot of confusion around that. What we’re doing is bringing older components up to current manufacturing levels, and in some cases, improving on the original design.”

Basically, a six-year old engine controller that looks to have had its day doesn’t go into the landfill — it comes out brand new and manufactured to current assembly and production requirements set by IPC, an industry trade association that DMR is involved is a member of.

Improvements in design aren’t immediately apparent until there are a few thousand miles behind a component. And, interestingly enough, when DMR engineers begin the reman process, they often see where mechanics came up with own solutions. “There are these little clues,” commented one DMR employee,”and if you see that guys have been tinkering, you know there’s a problem.”

DMR employees got a break in the afternoon to visit their soon-to-be new home.

Detroit’s DMR plant has been doing so well, in fact, that they’re moving to a new facility in Hibbing with more square footage and an eye on bringing more jobs to the Northern U.S. town. Local media, politicians and DMR employees came out to celebrate the news.

Detroit also announced the departure of Stefan Kurschner as president of Detroit Reman. Sanjiv Khurana will be taking on the role.

For his farewell gift, Kurschner was presented with a hand-crafted Detroit Reman wooden box from Detroit DMR employees. Inside the box? Peanut M&Ms. Apparently, Kurschner doesn’t go anywhere without them. A thoughful gift from a thoughtful group — exactly the kind of people you want helping to make your engines run better.