Production planning and control in remanufacturing: Exploring operational challenges

Övrigt konferensbidrag, 2025

With the increasing pressure on minimizing environmental impact, the importance of adopting sustainable practices has never been greater. Remanufacturing is becoming a well-established sustainable practice that focuses on recapturing value from end-of-use products and reducing environmental footprint. The remanufacturing, especially the planning and control of the operation, is complex due to the inherent high uncertainty of product returns in terms of quantity, quality, and timing. While research on remanufacturing is growing, there is limited empirical data on how remanufacturers plan and control their operations in practice, and what challenges occur in the production planning and control (PP&C) of remanufacturing operations.

This paper explores the execution of PP&C at three OEM and four non-OEM remanufacturing plants through study visits and semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal operational challenges in practice. While remanufacturers take different approaches to forecasting and managing product returns, the uncertainty and limited information available on returned products determines how production schedules, material requirements, and human workforce are planned.

The paper provides empirical evidence on current operational challenges for PP&C in remanufacturing and highlights areas for future research.