Scanning effectiveness of material flow management in remanufacturing – case study on diesel particulate filter remanufacturing

Abstract

Remanufacturing returns used products to an ‘as-new’ state resulting in economic, social, and environmental benefits. Considering the increasing value of the automotive industry, in this research, the emphasis was placed on automotive components remanufacturing. There is a lack of general remanufacturing process structure as this is a case-dependent process. Material flow management becomes an essential issue for successful remanufacturing, but there has been identified a research gap in the case of material flow management for effective remanufacturing process. The major objective of the paper was to prepare a quick-scan method for the effectiveness of the material flow management in remanufacturing assessment. This was achieved by investigation on remanufacturing theory and case study. There were identified disturbances in the material flow management in remanufacturing which were further investigated considering prerequisites for effective materials management. The method was verified in the diesel particulate filter remanufacturing company in Poland.