Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing is the process of recovering, disassembling, repairing and sanitizing components for resale at “new product” performance, quality and specifications. By remanufacturing products, components or parts, a company contributes to the circular economy by extending the lifetime of those elements and creating value.
Remanufactured products or parts should be considered “like new,” as the typical process of remanufacturing is thorough to ensure “like new” quality:
- Collection
- Identification and inspection
- Disassembly
- Reconditioning and replacement (when needed)
- Reassembly
- Quality assurance and testing
Remanufactured products should not be understood as “used,” “refurbished,” “repaired” or “reused.”
Economic drivers for remanufacturing may include reduced costs of goods sold, reduced prices to the customer, supply risk mitigation and stronger value chain relationships.
Resources
The Centre for Sustainable Design, “Remanufacturing and Product Design”
Example
Canon's remanufactured devices
Since 1992, Canon has been remanufacturing devices with more than one function. Its corporate ethos to optimize resource efficiency continues to shape Canon’s business strategy today. Canon uses cascading systems-thinking to capture resource value, and to prioritize product remanufacturing, component reuse and recycling.
Canon also offers remanufactured multifunction devices as well as refurbished products. The company maximizes value from its manufactured capital by collecting used equipment from the market, remanufacturing it and re-selling it with the same high-quality guarantee as original products. In reusing at least 80% of the materials, Canon also reduces product greenhouse gas emissions associated with raw materials, parts and manufacturing by more than 80% compared to a newly manufactured product.
By capturing the components and materials directly, Canon offers customers a high-quality product with and environmental impacts at a competitive price.