Integrating design for remanufacture into the design process: the operational factors

Abstract

The concept of ‘design for remanufacture’ (DfRem) originates from the understanding that decisions made during the design process may have a considerable effect upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the remanufacturing process. As well as the technical factors relating to DfRem – physical product properties and characteristics – it is also important to determine and explain the operational factors that affect the integration of DfRem into a company's design process. This paper presents the findings from case study research into these operational factors, providing a ‘wider picture’ of DfRem integration. Our case studies of three original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from the UK mechanical industry sector have led to the identification of significant external and internal operational factors including design priorities, OEM-remanufacturer relationships and designer motivation affecting these companies. The paper then goes on to discuss future work that will contribute towards enabling OEMs to assess their company maturity with regards to design for remanufacture.

Introduction

The subject of this paper is ‘product design for remanufacture’. In today's economic climate, the question for many companies is not simply how waste may be reduced and dealt with responsibly, but how waste may become a profit-making resource. Many of these companies have found remanufacture to be a successful way to address this issue. Remanufacture is the process of returning a used product to its original specification or better, with a warranty to match (Ijomah, 2002). As illustrated in Fig. 1, remanufacture involves disassembly, inspection, cleaning, reprocessing, testing, and reassembly; a process that often requires considerably less energy and materials than a newly manufactured equivalent (Lund, 1984). This means that a remanufactured product may be sold to the customer at a lower price, but often with a higher profit margin (Giuntini and Gaudette, 2003). Remanufacturing can often be considered an environmentally sustainable product end-of-life solution, because remanufacturing diverts used products from landfill and retains more intrinsic energy and raw materials than, for example, recycling (Nasr and Thurston, 2006).

Research has shown that the efficiency and effectiveness of the remanufacturing process greatly depends upon decisions made during the design process (Ijomah et al., 2007). There are certain product features and characteristics that affect remanufacturability, and therefore have an effect upon the feasibility and profitability of this business strategy (Charter and Gray, 2008), as well as the environmental savings mentioned above (Kerr and Ryan, 2001). How can a product be designed for remanufacture? Section 4 of this paper discusses previous attempts to address this issue, primarily through investigation of the technical factors concerning remanufacturability (physical product attributes). However, these previous attempts do not adequately address the important operational factors which also affect DfRem integration into the design process. Therefore this paper will focus on those operational factors.