Abstract:
Remanufacturing has been identified as the
process of returning of end-of-life products to original or better
condition and performance with lower resource consumption,
waste, and emissions compared to conventional manufacturing.
Remanufacturing aids to reduce the economic, environmental,
and social impacts of manufacturing. The purpose of this study
is to investigate several product recovery cases performed at
different levels to identify opportunities for developing
remanufacturing systems in the Sri Lankan context. A literature
review, semi-structured interviews, and case study visits were
conducted for data collection. The analysis shows that the
automotive sector in Sri Lanka is the most suitable sector to
introduce remanufacturing, within which turbocharger has
been identified as the most suitable component for
remanufacturing. A model for the turbocharger
remanufacturing system is proposed, and the sensitivity of the
system to different operating scenarios is also analysed using
plant simulations. The paper presents an economically viable
and environmentally benign remanufacturing system with a
business plan, which can be implemented in Sri Lanka.