Remanufacturing and product design

The imperative for connecting design and remanufacture was established by Nasr and Thurston (2006) who state that the full benefits of remanufacturing (reduced energy and material consumption; reduced wastes) cannot be achieved unless Design for Remanufacture becomes an integral part of the product development process. Design for Remanufacture is a strategic concept that needs to be controlled by OEMs, but is currently little practised; notable exceptions are Caterpillar and Xerox, who generate multiple revenue streams from remanufacturing. The business case for remanufacturing needs to be built, and designers' fluency in both eco-design and Design for Remanufacture to be significantly increased.