23. Remanufacturing

Remanufacturing, a process of bringing used products to “like-new” functional state with matching warranty, is being regarded as a more sustainable mode of manufacturing because it can be profitable and less harmful to the environment than conventional manufacturing. The practice is particularly applicable to complex electromechanical and mechanical products which have cores that, when recovered, will have value added to them which is high relative to their market value and to their original cost. Because remanufacturing recovers a substantial fraction of the materials and value added to a product in its first manufacture, and because it can do this at low additional cost, the resulting products can be obtained at reduced price. Remanufacturing however is poorly understood because of its relative novelty in research terms. This chapter will clearly define the term “remanufacturing” by differentiating it from alternative green production initiatives. It provides an overview of the remanufacturing concept, significance, and practice.