New technologies, increased
producer demand and increased natural resource prices have led to a new
phenomenon in the manufacturing world. Remanufacturing, at a point in near
history unnecessary, is growing and is projected to become the connecting
factor in what once was considered a linear economic manufacturing process.
Remanufacturing is, in the easiest
sense, recycling. With so many products being made every day around the world,
and our consumption of nearly all products rising (with a growing international
middle class) there is potential to reuse disassembled material that may have
previously been discarded. The consumer, or the trash bin, do not have to be
the final resting place of these products. What if our toasters, cars and
clothes, after we had tired of them, went to a specialized facility, where they
were deconstructed and reused for new products? With a growing concern for
recycling and reusing, companies have a unique and economically viable option
to continue the manufacturing process past the end-of-line consumer.
This economic process is dubbed
“The Circular Economy,” as there can be no set end point in production or
consumption. In the article “4 Ways the
Networked Economy is Circular,” three key principles enable the circular economy
to succeed. 1) There is a distinct difference between biological and technical
products. Technical products can be reused, while biological products decompose
in the environment; 2) Products most be designed for waste-reduction in disassembly
– allowing for ease of reuse and cost-effectiveness; and 3) Energy used to fuel
this re-manufacturing should be renewable, to reduce energy supply dependence
and risk.
At its core, remanufacturing and
the circular economy are about reducing waste, which we have spent a
significant portion of our time talking about. The largest issue surrounding
the process of remanufacturing is the reliability of lowered prices to
remanufacture products, though with the increased costs of fuel, the idea that
a car manufacturer would already have the steel necessary to build a new frame
from old cars would cut out a large portion of their initial investment into
production.
Using Renault’s plant in
Choisy-le-Roi as an example, the plant that remanufactures engines,
transmission, injection pumps for resale actually se 80% less energy and nearly
90% less water than new production of those components. Renault, as based on
the principles outlined above, actually designs these pieces to be easier to
disassemble and reuse – also forming partnerships with recyclers and waste
management companies to assist with end-of-use product design. Renault’s model
and partnerships have actually influenced these partner companies to design new
products to be used in the process, further reducing waste and cost.
As remanufacturing
and the circular economy have not fully integrated into the manufacturing
process for most companies, it will be interesting to see what the future holds
in regards to its adoption. Will companies see overall loss in investment?
Their shareholders fearing that with reused products come lower prices and less
need? With the growing world of the maker-manufacturer, are smaller scale versions
of remanufacturing shops going to take over the market, rather than relying on
enormous companies to expand their economic outlook towards reuse rather than a
linear path? No matter what the path, the companies investing in the process
from the beginning are seeing reduced cost and waste, good signs of an
up-and-coming process.
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