Combination of end-of-life strategies for extension of industrial equipment life cycle

Abstract

As many manufacturing companies are changing their production philosophies from a traditional focus on the manufacturing of the physical product towards a focus on the life cycle of the physical product, it is becoming important to engineer product's life cycle. Even more, many industrial researchers of the last decade see product's life cycle prolonging activities as a business opportunity both in economical and environmental ways. As a result, more focus is now put on the use phase and end-of-life phase, including maintenance and remanufacturing. The analysis of current end-of-life practices identifies significant improvements to product design that reduce the impact of manufactured goods on the environment as whole. Life cycle engineering and product take-back is a routine for many large industries and corporations nowadays, but, it is still a big challenge for a small and medium companies. In context of end-of-life strategies implementation, there is a very little experience for smaller firms, and results are often controversial. This paper will touch material processing equipment end-of-life strategies combination perspectives, real-life implementation of them, benefits and consequences. The case study is made on a basis of a lorry that will be transferred into spoil mixing plant