Economic growth and rising levels of consumption in developing and developed countries has been observed as being deeply coupled with natural resource usage and material consumption. The increasing need for natural resources has raised concerns regarding issues such as resource scarcity, undesirable environmental impacts due to material extraction, primary production, and suboptimal product disposal, and social or political tensions. Product End-of-Life (EoL) options, such as reusing or recycling, attempt to limit or reduce the amount of waste sent to a landfill, providing strategic means to decouple the link between economic growth and resource usage. These EoL options have the potential to close material loops, further utilizing wastes as resources, reducing environmental impacts, conserving natural resources, reducing material prices, and providing job opportunities in developing countries.
Remanufacturing, on the other hand, is a unique EoL option due to increasing the number of life cycles of a product before final disposal. First, recurring environmental benefits, such as emission and raw material extraction avoidance are obtained with each additional product life cycle. Second, individual resource efficiency yields increase through product remanufacture. Resource efficiency or, using more with less will continue to compound with each additional life cycle. Third, recirculating products decreases the demand and dependency for primary resource production, further closing the material loop and creating a more circular economy. In addition, remanufacturing can initiate more preferable EoL options such as recovery, recycling, and waste reduction.
While remanufacturing offers numerous benefits, there is significant lack of literature and books covering the fundamentals of operations, technologies and business models. The proposed book will provide in-depth coverage of remanufacturing fundamentals and its strong link to circular economy and resource efficiency.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
1 Value-Retention Processes within the Circular Economy 1
Jennifer Russell and Nabil Nasr
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Overview and Evaluation of Value-Retention Processes 3
1.2.1 Defining Value-Retention Processes 3
1.2.1.1 Arranging Direct Reuse 4
1.2.1.2 Repair 6
1.2.1.3 Refurbishment & Comprehensive Refurbishment 6
1.2.1.4 Remanufacturing 8
1.2.2 Expanded Systems-Perspective for VRPs 9
1.2.3 Evaluating the Value-Retention Potential of VRPs 10
1.3 Value-Retention Process Evaluation Results 13
1.3.1 Environmental Impacts of Value-Retention Processes at the Product-Level 13
1.3.2 Economic Advantages of Value-Retention Processes at the Product-Level 15
1.3.2.1 Production Waste Reduction through Value-Retention Processes 17
1.3.2.2 Production Cost Advantages of Value-Retention Processes 17
1.3.2.3 Employment Opportunities through Value-Retention Processes 17
1.3.3 Systemic Barriers to VRPs 18
1.4 Key Insights Regarding VRPs 19
1.4.1 Value-Retention Processes Create Net-Positive Outcomes for Circular Economy 19
1.4.2 Product-Level Efficiency Gains Lead to Economy-Level Efficiency Gains 20
1.4.3 The Mechanics of a System Designed for Value-Retention Processes 21
1.4.3.1 Value-Retention Processes are a Gateway to Recycling 22
1.4.4 Overcoming Barriers to Value-Retention Processes 23
1.4.4.1 Economic Conditions and Access to VRP Products 23
1.4.4.2 Market Challenges 23
1.4.4.3 Regulatory and Policy Opportunities 24
1.4.4.4 Diversion & Collection Infrastructure 24
1.4.4.5 The Nature of Barriers Must Guide Strategic Barrier Alleviation 25
1.5 Conclusions 25
References 28
2 The Role of Remanufacturing in a Circular Economy 31
Erik Sundin
2.1 Introduction 31
2.2 Circular Economy 32
2.2.1 What is It? 32
2.2.2 How Does It Work? 35
2.2.3 Summary 40
2.3 Remanufacturing 40
2.3.1 What is Remanufacturing? 40
2.3.2 Who Remanufactures? 43
2.3.3 Why Remanufacture? 46
2.3.4 Why Not Remanufacture? 49
2.3.5 Why Buy Remanufactured Products? 51
2.3.6 Why is Remanufacturing Good for the Environment? 52
2.4 Statements from Industry and Conclusions 56
2.4.1 Statements from Industry 56
2.4.2 Remanufacturing as the Heart and Lungs of the Circular Economy 57
References 59
Further Reading 60
3 Remanufacturing Business Models 61
Gilvan C. Souza
3.1 Introduction 62
3.2 Should an OEM Remanufacture? 63
3.2.1 A Model to Answer the Question 66
3.2.2 3PR Competition 73
3.2.3 Other Strategic Considerations 74
3.3 A Key Tactical Decision: Core Acquisition 77
3.4 Conclusion 81
References 83
4 Remanufacturing, Closed-Loop Systems and Reverse Logistics 85
Rolf Steinhilper and Steffen Butzer
4.1 Introduction 85
4.2 Remanufacturing in Closed-Loop Systems 86
4.2.1 Closed-Loop Supply Chains and Systems 87
4.2.2 Differentiation of Regeneration Approaches 88
4.2.3 The Role of Cores for Remanufacturing 90
4.3 Reverse Logistics 94
4.3.1 Justifications for Reverse Logistics and Remanufacturing 95
4.3.2 Core Return Strategies 97
4.3.3 Barriers of Reverse Logistics and Remanufacturing 100
4.3.4 Drivers of Reverse Logistics and Remanufacturing 102
4.3.5 In- or Outsourced Reverse Logistics 103
4.4 The Future of Reverse Logistics and Remanufacturing 106
References 107
5 Product Service and Remanufacturing 111
Mitsutaka Matsumoto
5.1 Introduction 112
5.2 Barriers to Remanufacturing 114
5.3 Product Services 116
5.4 Product Service as an Enabler of Remanufacturing 118
5.5 Industrial Practices 121
5.5.1 Heavy-Duty and Off-Road Equipment (HDOR) 121
5.5.2 Photocopiers 125
5.5.3 Summary and Implications 130
5.6 Conclusion and Challenge 132
References 134
6 Design for Remanufacturing 137
Brian Hilton and Michael Thurston
6.1 Introduction 138
6.2 Defining the Barriers to Remanufacturing Growth 141
6.3 Remanufacturing Design Enablers 142
6.4 Three Principles of Designing for Remanufacturing 143
6.4.1 Design to Create Value 144
6.4.1.1 Designing for Product Quality 145
6.4.1.2 Integrate Value 147
6.4.2 Design to Preserve Value 148
6.4.2.1 Designing for Durability 148
6.4.2.2 Designing for Viability 150
6.4.2.3 Design for Proactive Damage Prevention through Product Monitoring 153
6.4.3 Design to Recover Value 154
6.4.3.1 Designing for Assessability 154
6.4.3.2 Designing for Separability/ Disassembly (DfD) 156
6.4.3.3 Designing for Restorability 159
6.5 Conclusion 162
6.6 Acknowledgements 163
References 164
General References 167
7 Global Challenges and Market Transformation in Support of Remanufacturing 169
Shanshan Yang
7.1 Introduction 170
7.2 Global Remanufacturing Landscapes 172
7.2.1 The United States 172
7.2.2 Europe 172
7.2.3 China 175
7.2.4 Other Countries 176
7.3 Overview of Remanufacturing Sectors 176
7.3.1 Aerospace 179
7.3.2 Automotive Parts 180
7.3.3 Heavy-Duty and Off-Road (HDOR) 181
7.3.4 Information Technology (IT) 182
7.3.5 Other Sectors 184
7.4 Global Challenges 185
7.4.1 Standards & Legislation 185
7.4.2 Design 187
7.4.3 Market Demand 188
7.4.4 Core Supply 188
7.4.5 Skills, Technology, and Data of Remanufacturing 189
7.5 Paving the Way for Uptake of Remanufacturing 190
7.5.1 Connecting with New Business Models - The Product Service System 191
7.5.2 Setting Up Global Reverse Supply Chain 197
7.5.3 Innovative and Enabling Technology from Industry 4.0 200
7.5.4 Design for Remanufacturing 204
7.6 Conclusion 206
References 207
Index 211
