APICS Foundation finds remanufacturing is “an area of growing opportunity for supply chain and operations management professionals”.
Herald Online reported on research conducted by US non-profit organisation APICS Foundation on the benefits of remanufacturing, titled ‘Examining Remanufacturing in Supply Chain and Operations Management’, which found that remanufacturing “serves a broad array of strategic interests for companies, provides considerable career advancement potential for individuals and has become instrumental in furthering sustainability initiatives”.
Noting that remanufacturing had previously been limited to “specific areas of the B2C supply chain”, the article states that it has now “established a place in both B2C and B2B supply chain models” and continues to expand as new markets begin to “Accept and trust the ‘as good as new’ concept”, with the research finding that it is “essential to efficient, sustainable supply chain operations”.
Among the benefits of remanufacturing found by the study are that it “drives sustainability”, with 68 percent of respondents indicating that “sustainability was the primary advantage associated with remanufacturing” and 41 percent considering it “a formal component of their organisation’s sustainability policies”.
It was also found to add organisational benefits, with 66 percent of respondents claiming it increases customer satisfaction, 47 percent finding that it enhances product and organisational value chain, and 46 percent noting that it reduces production costs compared to new manufacturing.
Furthermore, the research also indicated that remanufacturing can add “career versatility” as it “requires new skills in forecasting, planning, and inventory management” that can enable supply chain and operations management professionals to “better identify potential for opportunity and innovation in forward and reverse supply chains”.
Commenting on the research, Sharon Rice, Executive Director of APICS Foundation, said: “Remanufacturing provides obvious benefit for the forward progress of sustainable supply chain initiatives. Supply chain professionals are eager for more information about this quickly evolving area because, as our survey has shown, more than 50 percent of survey respondents felt it was important for supply chain and operations management professionals to have at least some familiarity with remanufacturing as they expect a growing demand for remanufactured goods.”