Supporting design for remanufacturing : a framework for implementing information feedback from remanufacturing to product design

Remanufacturing is an industrial process turning used products into a condition of like new or better. Remanufacturing is also one strategy that salvages the value put into products during manufacturing and thus reduces the environmental impact of products over the life-cycle. However, not many products are designed for remanufacturing, and there is rarely any feedback from remanufacturing to design. Since design for remanufacturing is not applied at most manufacturing companies, there is a need to support companies, for example, by information feedback methods. By implementing feedback transfer from remanufacturing to design and employing design for remanufacturing, the remanufacturing process is more likely to be effective and efficient. The aim of this paper is to present a framework that supports design for remanufacturing by the implementation of structured feedback from remanufacturing to design. The framework aims at strategically outlining and practically implementing information feedback from remanufacturing to design. A case company where the framework has been initialised is also presented.