A model-based definition of the generic remanufacturing business process

Access to the full-text thesis is no longer available at the author's request, due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Access removed on 28.11.2016 by CS (TIS).Metadata merged with duplicate record (http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2829) on 20.12.2016 by CS (TIS).Remanufacturing is a process of bringing used products to a "like-new" functional state by rebuilding and replacing their component parts. The practice has a low profile in world economies, however, studies indicate that it obtains cost savings in the region of 20% to 80%, as well as quality similar to that of an equivalent "new" product. In fact, in excess of 73,000 firms are engaged in some sort of remanufacturing in the United States alone. The key remanufacturing issues are the ambiguity in its definition and the scarcity of its analytic models. The objective of the research was to address these issues, and was achieved using a 3-Phase research approach that followed Eisenhardt's (1989) case study methodology. Initially, the research examined remanufacturing operations in order to unambiguously define it. Following this, the remanufacturing business process was modelled to define remanufacturing in the context of its total system. The research contributions are a robust definition of remanufacturing and a comprehensive generic model of the remanufacturing business process. The research beneficiaries are industry and academia, because the unambiguous definition permits remanufacturing to be differentiated from alternative secondary market operations for the first time. This assists researchers to explicitly understand remanufacturing so they can undertake effective remanufacturing research and correctly disseminate their findings. The generic model is a remanufacturing-specific, analytic error-reduction tool to reduce risk in remanufacturing. The research originality is that for the first time remanufacturing has been analysed from a business process perspective, an unambiguous definition of remanufacturing is determined and a generic model of the remanufacturing business process has been established

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

Improving the efficiency of the remanufacture of complex mechanical assemblies with robust inspection of core units

This paper presents the findings of experimental research carried out at a Caterpillar Remanufacturing facility in the UK into core inspection at the initial stage of remanufacture – Receive Core. The initial analysis of results shows an increase in productivity with increase of inspection but that this increase is finite and over-inspection leads to an overall decrease of productivity and an increase in costs. However the results also show that the amount of viable inspection can be more closely linked to the cost of the component rather than the facility operating costs. This is important because remanufacturers traditionally base their pricing and product recovery on their operating costs. The new knowledge concerning the factors affecting the efficacy of core inspection is being used to develop a generic decision-making methodology for core inspection at component level to improve the overall efficiency (in terms of increased productivity and cost reduction) of the remanufacturing operation

Pre-processing inspection – a worthwhile activity for remanufacturers

Remanufacture, a process to return used product to an "as-new" condition with an equivalent quality, is typically carried out on complex mechanical assemblies as the remaining value in the used product is high. Remanufacturing is often a more efficient reuse strategy than recycling as, in addition to the reduction in landfill and the use of virgin material, it also reduces the amount of energy used in successive applications by removing raw material production and any subsequent manufacturing processes, thus increasing profitability for the remanufacturer. There remain barriers to remanufacturing particularly around the paucity of research into the field. Guide identified that remanufacturers perceive the scarcity of effective remanufacturing tools and techniques as a key threat to the industry. Ijomah quantified these key characteristics on a five-point scale ranging from "Not Significant through to "Critical". The only characteristic rated "critical" by remanufacturers was component inspection. Personal experience and observation of the remanufacturing process has shown that this remanufacturing sub-activity, although it can have significant bearing on overall productivity, is undertaken in a hap-hazard manner based almost purely on experience and guesswork and lacks proper methodologies and tools. This paper presents the results of quantitative doctoral research, conducted in a Caterpillar Remanufacturing UK facility, to establish the relationship between pre-processing inspection and the subsequent remanufacturing process time for returned used products known as cores. It concludes that for components (i.e. cores) having either complex geometry (such as internal ports), a large number of sub-components or that are constructed from, or comprising of, multiple materials, the remanufacturing process is shortened by increased inspection prior to processing. However, these benefits are currently limited by the amount of information that can be gained from the inspection methods used. It describes the practical use of these factors in a decision-making methodology for inspection

A novel pre-processing inspection methodology to enhance productivity in automotive product remanufacture : an industry-based research of 2196 engines

Remanufacture, a process of returning used products to “as-new” condition with matching guarantee, is commercially viable where the remaining value in the used product and the final selling price are much higher than the cost of the products’ rebuilding. Typical examples include large, complex mechanical and electromechanical assemblies due to their high initial purchase price, long lives and resistance to fashion. Remanufacturing is often a more efficient reuse strategy than recycling because it reduces landfill and the use of virgin material in production. Moreover by significantly lowering raw material production and the subsequent processes involved in “new” manufacture it decreases the amount of energy used in manufacturing; all resulting in increased profits for the manufacturer. There remain barriers to remanufacturing particularly around the paucity of research into the field. Guide identified that remanufacturers perceive the scarcity of effective remanufacturing tools and techniques as a key threat to the industry whilst Ijomah assessed the key remanufacturing issues on a five-point scale ranging from “Not Significant through to “Critical”. Component inspection was the only issue rated as “critical” by all remanufacturers. Personal experience in the industry added to the analysis and observation of the remanufacturing process during this research has shown that component inspection has significant bearing on overall productivity; but is undertaken in a hap-hazard manner based almost purely on experience and guesswork and lacks proper methodologies and tools. This paper presents the results of quantitative research, conducted in a Caterpillar UK Remanufacturing facility, to establish the relationship between pre-processing inspection and the subsequent remanufacturing process time for returned cores (used products). It concludes that for components having either complex geometry (such as internal ports), a large number of sub-components or that are constructed from, or comprising of, multiple materials, the remanufacturing process is shortened by increased inspection prior to processing. Keywords: Remanufacturing, pre-processing, inspection methodolog

Development of a methodology to establish a component hierarchy for remanufacturing solutions for complex mechanical assemblies

Research into effective remanufacturing is recently new and is often concentrated on ensuring that the design of new products to market considers the reuse and reclaim after use. However, the pressure on landfill is already high and remanufacturing solutions are required for products currently at the end of their useful life. The vast majority of these items were produced without consideration of an end-of-life strategy. Remanufacturers are often not the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) but may be third-party contract remanufacturers or independent remanufacturers. OEMs are often very protective of their intellectual property and will not share information even with their contracted partners [1]. Consequently, successful remanufacture is often complicated by the need to “reverse engineer” (often by the disassembly and measurement of new purchased core) a product owing to a lack of available technical information. This can have a significant impact on the speed to market of a remanufactured product. Research [1] has shown that one of the key indicators for remanufacture is a short lead-time to market. This has been partly addressed by research into establishing the viability of remanufacture, however the complex mathematical models developed [2, 3, 4, 5], usually based on remanufacturing costs, do not seem to have been widely adopted by industry. There is a paucity of research into the business of remanufacturing once the initial decision to remanufacture is made and in particular into the order in which remanufacturers should concentrate their efforts. Empirical evidence together with the author’s experience working for a remanufacturer, who is both an OEM and contract remanufacturer, suggests that timely remanufacture of complex assemblies is often jeopardised by the unexpected need to develop remanufacturing solutions for individual components. These components are often relatively minor in the overall assembly but their importance is elevated when a new remanufacturing solution is required. The majority of focus is usually placed onto large, high-value components, although this may not always be the most efficient use of resource. Remanufacturers have grown used to developing innovative in-house solutions to problems but the time taken and the cost involved can threaten a viable remanufacturing programme

Moving forward in reverse : a review into strategic decision making in reverse logistics

Reverse Logistics, the process of managing the backward flows of materials from a point of use to a point of recovery or proper disposal, has gained increased industry acceptance as a strategy for both competitive advantage and sustainable development. This has stimulated a growing number of researchers to investigate Strategic management issues relating to the set up and control of effective and efficient Reverse Logistics systems. This paper systematically reviews the most important works in this field, with a focus on papers that concentrate on the strategic decision making process involved in the design and operation of a Reverse Logistics process with remanufacturing. The review found that: the majority of work is primarily focused on OEM specific issues; the sectors receiving the most attention are the ones under the greatest pressure from environmental legislation; and previous research findings from Rubio et al. (2009) and Fleischmann et al. (2000) are reaffirmed that the Reverse Logistics field is growing, but characterised by mainly quantitative, mathematical models. Future research efforts should be focused on the empirical investigation of the Reverse Logistics design process for all types of remanufacturers

An investigation of the value recovery process in the automotive remanufacturing industry : an empirical approach

Remanufacturers have been experiencing challenges when optimising the value recovery process mostly due to the uncertainties of cores regarding quality, quantity, arrival time and demand. Hence, the aim of this study is to gather relevant information from the literature and current industrial practice and then define research gaps to improve the decision-making practice for managing value recovery processes in the automotive remanufacturing industry. The case studies used in this paper are an original equipment remanufacturer and a contract remanufacturer. Both companies in the case studies use credit-based systems to take back old cores which can reduce the severity of cores’ unavailability. The ability to access the parts and specifications of the original equipment was the primary factor considered by the contract remanufacturer before deciding to remanufacture the product. In daily operations, the condition of cores was the main factors the OER and the contract remanufacturer considered to make a decision. Finally, the results of this study indicate further research areas from the intersection of industry’s needs and research gaps

Decision makings in key remanufacturing activities to optimise remanufacturing outcomes : a review

The importance of remanufacturing has been increasing since stricter regulations on protecting the environment were enforced. Remanufacturing is considered as the main means of retaining value from used products and components in order to drive a circular economy. However, it is more complex than traditional manufacturing due to the uncertainties associated with the quality, quantities and return timing of used products and components. Over the past few years, various methods of optimising remanufacturing outcomes have been developed to make decisions such as identifying the best End-Of-Life (EOL) options, acquiring the right amounts of cores, deciding the most suitable disassembly level, applying suitable cleaning techniques, and considering product commonality across different product families. A decision being made at one remanufacturing activity will greatly affect the decisions at subsequent activities, which will affect remanufacturing outcomes, i.e. productivity, economic performance effectiveness, and the proportion of core that can be salvaged. Therefore, a holistic way of integrating different decisions over multiple remanufacturing activities is needed to improve remanufacturing outcomes, which is a major knowledge gap. This paper reviews current remanufacturing practice in order to highlight both the challenges and opportunities, and more importantly, offers useful insights on how such a knowledge gap can be bridged