This paper explores the transformative potential of reuse and repurposing strategies in the manufacturing industry, with a focus on sustainability and circular economy principles. Through an extensive review of 115 articles from Scopus using 6 different queries for broad topic coverage, the study provides a comprehensive analysis of reuse and repurposing frameworks, highlighting...
In the era of environmental degradation and resource scarcity, the concept of circular economy (CE) has emerged as a pivotal strategy to transform the contemporary industrial landscape. As an integral component of the 10R framework, remanufacturing is emerging as a production strategy that revitalizes end-of-life (EOL) products to a like-new condition, fostering a more...
This work demonstrates the use of Deep Learning-based Computer Vision for Remanufacturing end-of-life consumer electronics products, considering smartphones as the use-case. We implemented automated detection of screen defects such as scratches and cracks. In turn, this could lead to increased reuse of smartphones in a secondary market alongside new ones to meet consumer demand...
The imperative shift toward sustainable development mandates a revolutionary transformation in the transportation sector. While the transition from internal combustion engines to electric motors represents a pivotal step, its ecological impact may fall short of expectations. This undertaking is motivated by the recognition that a truly impactful transition necessitates intricate...
The reshaping of end-of-life or scrap sheet metal panels is a potential remanufacturing process, which enables significant environmental benefits over the traditional metal recycling routes. This paper experimentally investigates cold and warm press flattening of waste sheet metal for enabling remanufacturing. Samples of stainless steel, aluminium alloy, and low carbon steel were...
With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, their end-of-life management is a timely matter. This requires recognizing the upcoming volume of retired electric-vehicle-batteries to the waste stream. The projection is further useful if we have an estimation of the remaining value within them to categorize the recycling or repurposing potential to allow appropriate policy...
The automotive industry is involved in a massive transformation from standard endothermic engines to electric propulsion. The core element of the Electic Vehicle (EV) is the battery pack. Battery pack production misses regulations concerning manufacturing standards and safety-related issues. In such a fragmented scenario, the increasing number of EVs in circulation is growing...
When planning production or remanufacturing capacity, it is necessary to use forecasts. In the case of production, demand must be forecasted; in the case of remanufacturing, core supply is also uncertain. In the remanufacturing literature, there are different methods to forecast product returns in the long term, mostly material-flow analysis, system dynamics simulation, and...
Sustainable manufacturing is of great importance in today’s world. In manufacturing, keep industrial equipment well-functioning is important because failure of equipment leads to significant financial and production losses. In addition, disposal of such failed equipment is both costly and environmentally unfriendly and does not recover any residual value. This raises the need to...
Remanufacturing has been modelled extensively from an economic perspective. However, there are relatively few studies focusing on models that consider the implementation difficulties in industry, such as data availability and model transparency. This paper aims to identify how remanufacturing initiations can be economically assessed with models particularly suitable for industry...
As environmental problems become more apparent, manufacturers need to balance environmental considerations with economic activities. This is where closed-loop supply chains are gaining attention. However, in addition to demand fluctuations, which are a problem in conventional supply chains, a circular supply chain is unstable in terms of supply, where end-of-life products are...
Material flow control in remanufacturing is an important issue in the field of disassembly. This paper deals with the potential of autonomous material release decisions for remanufacturing systems to balance the uncertainties related to changing bottlenecks, to maximise throughput ( $$TH$$ ) and to minimise work-in-process ( $$WIP$$ ). The goal is to achieve the highest possible...
Recently, remanufacturing approach/technology, which includes a series of the processes of disassembling, cleaning, inspecting, repairing/reconditioning, reassembling components for resale, is becoming more popular as companies look for a way to combat the current climate crisis, and as it allows companies to reduce environmental impacts and to save energy and resources. This...
Remanufactured products (RPs) have received more attention from consumers, academics, and practitioners in recent years. The current study presents a comprehensive systematic review of the literature on consumer behavior toward RPs while adopting the theory, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) framework. We followed the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for...
In 2021, sales of electric bicycles in Germany increased compared to the previous year, leading to a 43% share of electric bicycles in the total German bicycle market. The German Bicycle Industry Association (ZIV) expects this growth to continue and that by 2025 every second bicycle sold in Germany will have an electric motor. Therefore, due to the increasing number of sales...
Remanufacturing is one key element of a circular economy by closing the loop on the product level and thus maintaining or restoring the product design and the associated product properties. The remanufacturing process chain involves disassembly of used products, cleaning of parts, inspection and sorting of parts, reconditioning or replenishment by new parts, and product...
Threaded connections make up the majority of separable connections used today. Their disassembly behaviour strongly depends on the conditions during the life-phase. With the trend towards circular economy, disassembly particularly for remanufacturing requires automation. For production systems this mandates a certain capability of adaptation towards different product conditions...
Value-retention processes (VRPs), a collective term that includes practices of direct reuse, repair, refurbishment, and remanufacturing, can facilitate the cycling of products and components within a circular economy (CE). VRPs are often presented as alternatives to conventional manufacturing and consumption, and as mechanisms for avoiding negative environmental impacts (e.g...
Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is extensively used in automotive and aerospace industries with the aim to achieve reduction on emissions by reducing weight. Due to governmental regulations to reduce the environmental impact and to reduce waste, the need for remanufacturing CFRP is becoming an interesting area of application with economic benefits to industry. This is...
A circular economy, effective technologies for the recycling and reuse of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) are essential to keep these materials attractive for use in various products against the backdrop of stricter environmental regulations. This paper provides an overview of the current state of the art in the recycling and reuse of end-of-life (EOL) fiber reinforced plastic...
Remanufacturing offers an approach to extend product lifetime beyond its first use. After restoring products to original quality, they are reintroduced to the market. To make products more suited for this approach, and to increase resource-efficiency, design for remanufacturing can be incorporated for new product development. Academic literature points out opportunities for...
With the lack of access to medical equipment clear to see throughout the developing world in comparison to the developed world, solutions to bridge the gap are key to reducing the inequality of healthcare between the two. It has been identified that healthcare systems in developed countries have a rapid turnover of medical imaging equipment (X-ray, MRI, CT scanners, etc.) due to...
The automotive market is changing. For many years, cars with internal-combustion engines were dominant. Recently, more cars with alternative drive trains have become available, and their market share has increased, a trend that has had an effect on the remanufacturing industry for automotive parts. This paper aims to describe and evaluate the challenges and opportunities in the...
The aim of the article is to discuss the issues of the employee suggestion system (ESS) in a remanufacturing enterprise. ESS is a tool used in many modern management philosophies like continuous improvement, Kaizen, lean etc. A number of factors influencing the operation of the employee suggestion system (ESS) were examined in the literature. However, none considers the fact that...