Drivers and Barriers of Mobile Phone Remanufacturing Business in Indonesia: Perspectives of Retailers

Remanufacturing is deemed to be effective in reducing WEEE. Existing studies on remanufacturing mostly focus on operational issues, product acquisition, and pricing. However, some doubts about remanufacturing business arise in developing countries, where there is less regulation on remanufacturing and less environmental awareness. This study aims to investigate the prospects of remanufacturing business from the retailers' perspectives through in-depth interviews on three retailers in Surabaya, Indonesia. The main drivers for mobile phone remanufacturing business are its affordable and competitive price, big demand for popular mobile phones and high-end mobile phone, the opportunity for specification upgrade, and its suitability with the needs of Indonesian people. The main barriers for remanufacturing business are the possibility for cannibalizing new mobile phones' market share, the uncertainty of core supply, discontinuity of replacement part supply, lack of product knowledge among consumers and retailers, hesitation of retailers to sell remanufactured products, and lack of strict and clear regulations about remanufacturing business. Findings of this study provide insights to prospective mobile phone remanufacturers of what needs to be tackled to start a prosperous business. On the theoretical side, it provides complementary knowledge to existing studies that have been conducted mostly on countries that have higher environmental awareness

Remanufacturing: a key strategy for sustainable development

Remanufacturing is a process of bringing used products to "like-new" functional state with warranty to match. It recovers a substantial proportion of the resource incorporated in a used product in its first manufacture, at low additional cost, thus reducing the price of the resulting product. The key remanufacturing problem is the ambiguity in its definition leading to paucity of knowledge and research in the process. Also, few remanufacturing tools and techniques have been developed to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. This paper addresses these issues by describing the findings of in-depth UK case studies, including, a robust remanufacturing definition and an analytic model of the generic remanufacturing business process for improving remanufacturing knowledge and expertise

Remanufacturing and product design: designing for the 7th generation

The following is taken directly from the research report. This report investigates Design for Remanufacture in terms of both detailed product design and the business context in which Design for Remanufacture may operate. Key Study Objectives • To understand the link between design and remanufacture • To understand how Design for Remanufacture can lead to increased innovation and Sustainable Development (SD) • To identify proactive strategies to further Design for Remanufactur

Applying Revenue Management to the Reverse Supply Chain

We study the disposition decision for product returns in a closed-loop supply chain. Motivated by the asset recovery process at IBM, we consider two disposition alternatives. Returns may be either refurbished for reselling or dismantled for spare parts. Reselling a refurbished unit typically yields higher unit margins. However, demand is uncertain. A common policy in many firms is to rank disposition alternatives by unit margins. We show that a revenue management approach to the disposition decision which explicitly incorporates demand uncertainty can increase profits significantly. We discuss analogies between the disposition problem and the classical airline revenue management problem. We then develop single period and multi-period stochastic optimization models for the disposition problem. Analyzing these models, we show that the optimal allocation balances expected marginal profits across the disposition alternatives. A detailed numerical study reveals that a revenue management approach to the disposition problem significantly outperforms the current practice of focusing exclusively on high-margin options, and we identify conditions under which this improvement is the highest. We also show that the value recovered from the returned products critically depends on the coordination between forward and reverse supply chain decisions.remanufacturing;revenue management;onderdelen;revenues;spare parts inventory

Addressing decision making for remanufacturing operations and design-for-remanufacture

Remanufacturing is a process of returning a used product to at least original equipment manufacturer original performance specification from the customers' perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty that is at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent. This paper explains the need to combine ecological concerns and economic growth and the significance of remanufacturing in this. Using the experience of an international aero-engine manufacturer it discusses the impact of the need for sustainable manufacturing on organisational business models. It explains some key decision-making issues that hinder remanufacturing and suggests effective solutions. It presents a peer-validated, high-level design guideline to assist decision-making in design in order to support remanufacturing. The design guide was developed in the UK through the analysis of selections of products during case studies and workshops involving remanufacturing and conventional manufacturing practitioners as well as academics. It is one of the initial stages in the development of a robust design for remanufacture guideline

The case for transforming the approach to waste, and growing a circular economy; a design perspective.

In recent years, there has been a growing discussion of resource efficiency, the ‘circular economy’ and the economic and environmental benefits of maximising the value of resources beyond the life of a product. This Environmental Audit Committee inquiry was initiated to examine the case for transforming the approach to waste, and growing a 'circular economy'. This is an evidence paper published online at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmenvaud/214/21411.htm A full transcript of the inquiry is available at http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/environmental-audit-committee/growing-a-circular-economy/oral/9635.html

Consumers’ Acceptance of a Bio-circular Automotive Economy: Explanatory Model and Influence Factors

Sustainability in the automotive sector and appropriate end-of-life (EOL) management options for car tyres are important and constitute global issues. There is currently an oversupply of EOL tyres and the potential of circular economy (CE) tyres and for bio-based (BB) tyres warrants further investigation. Likewise, BB and CE tyres might be an interesting approach to improve the overall sustainability of the tyre life cycle. Research on drivers for the acceptance of CE and BB tyres is currently missing. In 1989, a socio-economy model was created to understand the acceptance of various products. This model is still popular in many areas but does not address sustainability questions of the 21st century appropriately. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the factors which drive acceptance of sustainable tyres. It presents an acceptance model and related influence factors in three areas: variables related to the consumers, perceived product characteristics and stimulating moderator variables. The third aspect refers in particular to labels and certification influencing consumer views on existing product characteristics. This article ends by discussing how availability of such labels could be promoted through eco-labelling of tyres and related standardization, addressing the industry and policy makers to make the automotive sector more sustainable.BMBF, 033R236E, ReziProK - Verbundvorhaben: ConCirMy - Entwicklung eines stufen- und kreislaufübergreifend vernetzten Konfigurators zur Gewährleistung geschlossener Material- und Komponentenflüsse im Rahmen der zirkulären Ökonomie, Teilvorhaben 4: Sozioökonomische Analysen und GeschäftsmodelleDFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

Pending U.S. and EU Free Trade Agreements with South Korea: Possible Implications for Automobile and Other Manufacturing Industries

[Excerpt] South Korea has negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States and the European Union (EU), but neither agreement has yet been approved. The U.S. Congress must approve the United States and South Korea free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) and the European Parliament must vote on the European Union and South Korea free trade agreement (KOREU FTA) before the FTAs can take effect. If the FTAs are ratified, it is possible there could be a “first mover” advantage for either the United States or the European Union, depending on which FTA is approved first. Some argue that both agreements have shortcomings and should not be approved. This report provides U.S. lawmakers with a comparison of the manufacturing components in the KORUS and KOREU FTAs. Congressional interest in an FTA between the European Union and South Korea mostly centers on those U.S. industries competing with European industrial sectors, especially motor vehicles. The two pending FTAs raise questions about what it could mean for U.S. manufacturers if the United States takes longer, or fails altogether, to implement the KORUS FTA, while the European Union and South Korea possibly move ahead to approve and implement their outstanding FTA. In such a case, the possibility exists that the removal of tariff and nontariff barriers between the European Union and South Korean markets could result in U.S. manufacturers losing South Korean market share to European competitors. On balance, most U.S. and European manufacturing sectors, with some auto manufacturers in particular among notable dissenters, argue that the pending FTAs will be beneficial and are largely supportive. On the other side, labor unions in the United States and the European Union are considerably more skeptical, claiming that South Korean companies could be the biggest beneficiaries, since they could gain even greater access to the significantly larger U.S. and EU markets. Labor union leaders say the FTA will result in further job losses as their respective manufacturing workforces compete for market share with competitive South Korean manufacturers in their own domestic markets

Creating a global vision for sustainable fashion

Textiles, the fastest growing sector in household waste, have created an exponential rise in the export of second hand clothes (SHC) to overseas markets such as Kenya and Tanzania. Despite the few advantages for the destination markets (eg, enterprise opportunities), this has exasperated a difficult situation for domestic production. Increased cheap imports from Asia have also led to decline in SHC markets, resulting in increased land filling and the associated environmental impacts. Our research proposes remanufacturing fashion from the unwanted SHC, embellishing using local (destination market) craft/design. From literature review conducted, reuse and remanufacture of clothing causes the least impact on energy use and appears to be the most environmentally and socially friendly approach to sustainability efforts. Remanufacture of clothing is currently practiced at niche market levels, for it to have a broader impact; it needs to gain entry into the mass-market retail arena. In the mass market arena, the apparel value chain is organized around several parts with a marketing network at the retail level. Lead firms predominantly construct these value chains, are predominantly located in developed countries, and may be large retailers and brand-name firms, playing a significant role in specifying what is to be produced, how, and by whom. Our goal is to understand how designers, manufacturers and retailers may work together in a remanufacturing process. We present findings from interviews with Tanzanian second hand clothes retailers and artisans, UK fashion remanufacturers and retailers. We discuss the implications on the fashion design process and propose a new product development method for sustainable consumption of fashion. We conclude by reflecting on potential mechanisms of the supply chain integration and how the large multinationals may become engaged. Key words: remanufacturing, design process, supply chain, second hand clothe

Disposition Choices Based on Energy Footprints instead of Recovery Quota

This paper addresses the impact of disposition choices on the energy use of closed-loop supply chains. In a life cycle perspective, energy used in the forward chain which is locked up in the product is recaptured in recovery. High quality recovery replaces virgin production and thereby saves energy. This so called substitution effect is often ignored. Governments worldwide implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Policies are based on recovery quota and not effective from an energy point of view. This in turn leads to unnecessary emissions of amongst others CO2. This research evaluates current EPR policies and presents six policy alternatives from an energy standpoint. The Pareto-frontier model used is generic and can be applied to other closed loops supply chains under EPR, exploiting the substitution effect. The measures modeled are applied to five WEEE cases. We discuss results, pros an cons of various alternatives and complementary measures that might be taken.extended producer responsibility;disposition;energy perspective;substitution effect;government policies;Pareto efficiency