Development of a Reference Process for Production Process and Re-assembly Development

Manufacturing companies face critical challenges as climate change accelerates, driving ambitious environmental targets and increasing resource scarcity due to growing global demand for goods. The traditional linear “take-make-dispose” economic model is unsustainable under these pressures. Circular economy principles offer a viable alternative, aiming to decouple economic growth from resource consumption. Among these principles, remanufacturing—restoring used products to a like-new or improved state—presents a particularly resource-efficient strategy. This study focuses on Re-Assembly, a specific form of remanufacturing where restoration is temporally decoupled. Despite its potential to align economic and environmental goals, Re-Assembly remains underutilized due to labor-intensive processes and insufficient integration of Re-Assembly needs into product and production process design. Additionally, the interactions between product, production, and Re-Assembly processes are poorly understood. Product development decisions impose requirements on production and Re-Assembly, while production processes constrain product design and Re-Assembly feasibility. Effective Re-Assembly necessitates new product requirements that influence both product and production process development. This interconnected system underscores the need for an integrated approach. However, existing integrated development methods do not fully incorporate Re-Assembly requirements, and current remanufacturing design guidelines lack focus on production process implications. This research proposes a reference process for developing production and Re-Assembly processes for upgradeable products. It expands existing guidelines to address Re-Assembly-specific needs, introduces a Re-Assembly development framework, and establishes a methodology to analyze bidirectional information flows between product, production, and Re-Assembly processes. This approach aims to bridge current gaps and enable sustainable manufacturing practices.