How an OEM Can Become Circular with Remanufacturing: The Case of Robotic Lawn Mowers

Abstract

The consumption of resources is at an alarmingly high level, and there is a high need for resource-efficient alternatives to manufacturing. Remanufacturing is one way to reduce the use of both materials and energy, while still providing products with a like-new condition. This paper aims to define critical areas to assess when applying remanufacturing to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The research was conducted by interweaving remanufacturing’s role in a circular economy (CE) with a single case study at a robotic lawn mower OEM. The case study was split into three parts that separately investigated customer demand, product design and economic sustainability, respectively, all in the area of remanufacturing. This paper addressed the research gap in OEM strategy towards a CE with remanufacturing, defining five critical areas to assess when applying remanufacturing to OEMs: customer, product, sustainability (economic, environmental and social), business model, and production system. The findings of the paper could be useful for many OEMs willing to shift to a CE with remanufacturing.

5‐step approach for initiating remanufacturing (5AFIR)

“…The case company gained an interest in remanufacturing as part of making contributions towards its sustainability vision. The three Phase 1 studies, shown in Figure 1, concluded that remanufacturing was viable at the case company considering the design of the targeted products, customer perception, and expected return on investment (Kurilova‐Palisaitiene et al, 2020). These positive results enabled a prolongation of the remanufacturing project as the upper management had sufficient material indicating further positive outcomes.…”

“…With a basis in the insights from the six studies with various research methods and the decision‐making procedure studied at the case company (Kurilova‐Palisaitiene et al, 2020), a remanufacturing initiation framework was developed: One to guide OEMs in framing the steps to systematically initiate remanufacturing.…”

“…methods and the decision-making procedure studied at the case company(Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al, 2020), a remanufacturing initiation framework was developed: One to guide OEMs in framing the steps to systematically initiate remanufacturing.The decision-making procedures of the remanufacturing initiation at the case company indicate that the timeline from start to finish was not straightforward. The findings also indicate that many of the challenges of remanufacturing are handled more as a single integrated unit than one step at a time.…”