Title: Remanufacturing and product design

Authors: Martin Charter, Casper Gray

Addresses: The Centre for Sustainable Design, University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Falkner Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS, UK. ' Wax RDC, 9 Beaufort Rd. Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7JS, UK

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: remanufacturing; product design; eco-design; design for remanufacture; product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2008.020406

International Journal of Product Development, 2008 Vol.6 No.3/4, pp.375 - 392

Published online: 21 Sep 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article