Research framework for remanufacturing classification

Remanufacturing is estimated to save between 40% and 60% of the cost of manufacturing a completely new product while requiring only 20% of the energy. The purpose of this article is to propose a topology of remanufacturing to facilitate the systematic classification of relevant information that is developing. Without such a basic topology the information generated from case studies and industry forums will be unable to be used by researchers to uncover correlations and the underlying causal relationships that may provide prescriptive methods to enhance production planning and control in a remanufacturing environment. The proposed topology will build upon the previous well known classification system developed by Hayes and Wheelwright (1979) for product-processes relationships.