Strategic opportunities for product-agnostic remanufacturing

Abstract

PurposeThere is now much emphasis in both research and practice on the principles of circular economies. In this paper remanufacturing is examined as a key enabler of circular practices, and the concept of “Product-Agnostic Manufacturing” (PAR) is proposed. This work differentiates PAR from many traditional approaches to remanufacturing by virtue of PAR's treatment of product variety. Most existing approaches to remanufacturing feature low variety and standardisation; this study instead suggests that the exploitation of flexibilities in both operations and supply chains leads to new competitive strategies for firms to exploit.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual study that builds on a thorough exploration of contemporary remanufacturing literature in the development of the new PAR concept.FindingsThrough a detailed literature review it is shown that there are a range of benefits, challenges, and critical success factors that underpin the remanufacturing concept. Building on this understanding and bridging literature in operations flexibility and supply chain design, a detailed discussion on the nature of PAR is provided, and an agenda for future research developed.Originality/valueWhilst there has been much literature on remanufacturing, there is a general tendency to treat supply chain and remanufacturing operations quite distinctly in individual articles. Additionally, there has been little consideration of multi-product remanufacturing, and for the limited studies where this is done, the emphasis is typically on problem avoidance. This study aims to provide a detailed insight into the developed PAR concept, showing how the remanufacture of a wide range of product varieties may be achieved through flexible operations and supply chain design.

Remanufacturing the economy

“…Once unable to be repaired or recycled, the firm pays to have them sustainably destroyed. An element of the circular economy posited by Hofmeester and Eyers (2022) is that of product-agnostic remanufacturing.…”

Editorial: Papers from the 25th International Symposium on Logistics (ISL)

“…High-volume, short-life products have a greater focus on reducing waste and recycling, whilst higher-value or -life products have more of a focus on repair. Focussing more on the circular economy, Hofmeester and Eyers (2023) develop the concept of product-agnostic remanufacturing. Here, remanufacturing operations are not constrained to a small number of products but have the capability to cope with a wide variety of products.…”