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M. Matsumoto et al.
36.1 Introduction
Increasing the resource efficiency of economies is one of the keys in promoting a
sustainable society. To increase the resource efficiency, promotion of material saving,
material recycling, and prolonging the product/component lifetimes are indispensable. In recent years, activities prolonging the product/component usage time have
become increasingly important. Such activities specifically include product remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, and direct reuse (RRRDR), and are alternatively
called value-retention processes (VRPs) (UNEP-IRP 2018). In this paper, we call
these activities wholly as circular manufacturing. They attract attentions because they
offer not only the opportunity to achieve significant environmental impact reduction,
but also to create economic opportunities for cost reduction, value-retention, and
employment opportunities (UNEP-IRP 2018).
Promoting circular manufacturing is quite challenging in developing process
technologies, system technologies, and business management and policy arrangement (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). This study focuses on the process
technologies for RRRDR specifically for remanufacturing which enables high-value
retentions. The process technologies indispensable for remanufacturing include techniques for disassembly/assembly, cleaning, inspection, material restoration, reliability assessment, and so on (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). Among these
technologies, material restoration technologies are the highlight of this study, with
specific focus on additive manufacturing (AM). The material restoration critically
influences the remanufacturing’s effects on prolonging product/component lifetimes
and thus, the effects of enhancing resource efficiency. The surface of the materials of
used products/components can contain fracture, fatigue, wear, corrosion, etc., which
need restoration for remanufacturing. The term AM is used, in some cases, to specifically indicate 3D printing, but in general, AM also includes techniques as welding,
thermal spray, cladding, laser engineered net shape, cold spray, and so on. This study
uses the term AM in the latter sense. At the same time, the study distinguishes 3D
printing from other AM techniques.
This study conducted a survey of AM techniques that are used and can be potentially used in remanufacturing. It also explored the challenging issues in the techniques. The first survey was on the AM techniques used in remanufacturing today,
based on visits and interviews with industries mainly in Japan, Norway, and India.
The subsequent survey was focused on metal 3D printing that has been researched
intensively in the last decade. The industrial applications today are mostly limited to
new product/component manufacturing, however, the technique has already started
to be applied in remanufacturing, and demonstrates a great potential that field in the
future (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). This study surveyed the applications
of the metal 3D printing largely based on literature review. It further conducts an
exploration of the challenges on the techniques.
The rest of this article is organized as follows. The next section outlines the
challenges in process technologies of remanufacturing, and specifies the importance
of material restoration technologies in the field. Section 36.3 summarizes the AM
M. Matsumoto et al.
36.1 Introduction
Increasing the resource efficiency of economies is one of the keys in promoting a
sustainable society. To increase the resource efficiency, promotion of material saving,
material recycling, and prolonging the product/component lifetimes are indispensable. In recent years, activities prolonging the product/component usage time have
become increasingly important. Such activities specifically include product remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, and direct reuse (RRRDR), and are alternatively
called value-retention processes (VRPs) (UNEP-IRP 2018). In this paper, we call
these activities wholly as circular manufacturing. They attract attentions because they
offer not only the opportunity to achieve significant environmental impact reduction,
but also to create economic opportunities for cost reduction, value-retention, and
employment opportunities (UNEP-IRP 2018).
Promoting circular manufacturing is quite challenging in developing process
technologies, system technologies, and business management and policy arrangement (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). This study focuses on the process
technologies for RRRDR specifically for remanufacturing which enables high-value
retentions. The process technologies indispensable for remanufacturing include techniques for disassembly/assembly, cleaning, inspection, material restoration, reliability assessment, and so on (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). Among these
technologies, material restoration technologies are the highlight of this study, with
specific focus on additive manufacturing (AM). The material restoration critically
influences the remanufacturing’s effects on prolonging product/component lifetimes
and thus, the effects of enhancing resource efficiency. The surface of the materials of
used products/components can contain fracture, fatigue, wear, corrosion, etc., which
need restoration for remanufacturing. The term AM is used, in some cases, to specifically indicate 3D printing, but in general, AM also includes techniques as welding,
thermal spray, cladding, laser engineered net shape, cold spray, and so on. This study
uses the term AM in the latter sense. At the same time, the study distinguishes 3D
printing from other AM techniques.
This study conducted a survey of AM techniques that are used and can be potentially used in remanufacturing. It also explored the challenging issues in the techniques. The first survey was on the AM techniques used in remanufacturing today,
based on visits and interviews with industries mainly in Japan, Norway, and India.
The subsequent survey was focused on metal 3D printing that has been researched
intensively in the last decade. The industrial applications today are mostly limited to
new product/component manufacturing, however, the technique has already started
to be applied in remanufacturing, and demonstrates a great potential that field in the
future (GIS RIT 2017; Matsumoto et al. 2016). This study surveyed the applications
of the metal 3D printing largely based on literature review. It further conducts an
exploration of the challenges on the techniques.
The rest of this article is organized as follows. The next section outlines the
challenges in process technologies of remanufacturing, and specifies the importance
of material restoration technologies in the field. Section 36.3 summarizes the AM