Remanufacturing | Making used parts come back to life again
What is the purpose of remanufacturing?
Remanufacturing’s main goal is to lessen the amount of waste that enters a waste management system. Additionally, it assists in promoting resource conservation and recycling at the local, state, and federal levels. There are 13 different sectors that primarily employ remanufacturing, including:
What is remanufacturing?
Remanufacturing is the process of restoring a product to its original manufactured form using new, repaired, or repurposed parts. Components that have become outdated must be replaced or repaired as part of the remanufacturing process. It is standard remanufacturing practice to discard or recycle those modules and parts if you are unable to fix the outdated components. You also replace parts that are vulnerable to severe deteriorating or eroding effects that may affect the product’s overall performance.
Ultimately, remanufacturing is a form of product recovery. It gives manufacturers the chance to redesign a product so that it meets any potential customer expectations for a new product. The remanufacturing process consists of the following 9 fundamental steps:
1. Acquisition
The acquisition of a component at the end of its life cycle is the first step in the remanufacturing process. This item has been extensively used, and as a result of natural deterioration, it is no longer functional. An organization that disassembles old computers for parts it can use to remanufacture new computers, for instance, might receive a donation of an old computer once it has reached the end of its useful life.
2. Disassemble
When the product is delivered to the manufacturing facility, the process of disassembling begins there. This means completely dismantling the item to its core components. For instance, before moving on to the next stages of the process when remanufacturing a bike, you must disconnect the wheels, chains, handles, breaks, seat, and any other modules that can be removed.
3. Condition assessment
You inspect each component after disassembling the object to ascertain its current state. This is the stage where you carefully inspect the items and determine which parts are salvageable. You could divide the components into three clearly labeled categories during this step:
4. Clean
The salvageable components are gathered, cleaned, and prepared for repair and reuse. It’s a good idea to make sure that these components still have their original appearance. This permits you to use a wide variety of items that are compatible with the material compositions of the component parts. Use cleaning products without potassium or sodium hydroxide if you’re salvaging metals like aluminum, tin, or zinc because those chemicals can cause the metal to corrode.
5. Repair
After cleaning the salvaged components, it’s time to fix the ones that require urgent repairs. You can repair them using a wide variety of procedures, and the procedure you choose will depend on the kinds of parts you salvage. Additionally, you could use cutting-edge manufacturing tools and technologies when doing repairs.
6. Assemble
You decide how to put the components together to create a usable product after fixing them. Depending on the kind of product you assemble, the process for reassembling all the used parts you collect, clean, fix, and prepare changes. You’ll probably employ the same methods you do when putting together a completely different version of the product. You should also incorporate any necessary new components into the build at this time.
7. Test
Testing the functionality or condition of the remanufactured product after construction is crucial to ensuring that the repairs are secure and reliable. The remanufacturing process has been successful if the product functions just as well as its brand-new counterparts. Several groups, including the manufacturing team, prospective customers, and other related departments, may test the remanufactured goods.
8. Service life
You are now prepared to deliver the product to its intended audience after thoroughly testing it and ascertaining that it is in good working order. This procedure starts the product’s “new service life,” or the amount of time it can be used before being put through the remanufacturing process once more. Depending on how much personal care you give your product, the service life for some items may change. For instance, regular maintenance, regular checkups, and early problem solving can significantly increase the service life of your car.
9. Return
Remanufacturing the item is done once it has reached the end of its useful life. You must first decide whether the item can be remanufactured at all. If so, how well you looked after the product could affect how the process works. Even if you are unable to remanufacture the product once more, you might be able to salvage some of its components for use in the manufacturing of another product.
Benefits of remanufacturing
Remanufacturing offers the following beneficial outcomes:
Types of remanufacturing
There are three primary types of remanufacturing, including:
Remanufacturing without identity loss
This method of remanufacturing creates a new product using the framework of an older one. This entails remanufacturing it so that it receives all warranties, service life expectancy projections, and improvements that come with a new machine. To make sure that a product of this kind complies with standards, it’s crucial to check the quality of its entire physical structure, including the frame and chassis. The finished product is then refurbished, and any necessary repairs, upgrades, or replacements are made to the crucial parts. After that, fix any flaws you discover in the initial product design.
Airplanes, tools, machines, computer mainframes, and medical equipment are among the products that can be remanufactured without compromising their original identities.
Remanufacturing with loss of original product identity
In this kind of remanufacturing, used products are broken down into pre-specified groups of components. The stock of those parts is then repaired so that it can be used in the process of reassembling a new product. Products like furniture, computers, auto parts, cameras, toner cartridges, and photocopiers frequently use this type. Once the product has been disassembled and the parts have been recovered, you proceed in a manner similar to that used in the production of new products. Then, you add the disassembled components to an inventory system that is similar to the one used for newly purchased components.
Many of these parts lack the original product identity, so you can manage your inventory by using techniques like finding component commonalities and figuring out their function in the production planning process.
Repetitive remanufacturing without identity loss
You plan a series of product updates with this kind of remanufacturing process. To accommodate the requirement for unique components, it is crucial to make these updates in repetitive sequences. Compared to the standard remanufacturing procedure, the finished product rebuilt using this version looks the same as it did before. However, it works and functions like a brand new product.
FAQ
What is an example of remanufacturing?
A manufacturing sector that is resource-efficient must include remanufacturing. Keeping parts and the materials they are made of in use for longer will result in significant reductions in energy use and emissions to the air and water (e g. CO2 and SO2) can be avoided.
What does remanufacturing mean?
Energy conservation: Restoring a damaged component uses a lot less energy than processing newly-mined materials and creating a completely new component. Remanufacturing consequently results in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, and a variety of other byproducts of fossil fuel energy.
What is the difference between remanufacturing and recycling?
The product must go through a comprehensive process that is significantly more than “repair” in order to meet the “remanufactured” definition. “A straightforward example of remanufacturing is the retreaded tire, which keeps the tire’s basic inner core but has new rubber applied and bonded to it after the remaining tread has been removed.
What is remanufacturing in circular economy?
Definition of remanufacture transitive verb. : to manufacture into a new product.
