Making functional sales environmentally and economically beneficial through product remanufacturing

Functional sales have both economic and environmental benefits-especially when the functional sales contracts are used in connection with product remanufacturing. This paper elucidates these benefits and provides an argument for why products to be used for functional sales should be remanufactured. To achieve an efficient remanufacturing process, the products aimed for remanufacturing should be adapted for the process as much as possible. The analyses of remanufacturing facilities for household appliances and automotive parts revealed that the cleaning and repairing steps are most critical in the remanufacturing process. To facilitate these two steps, the product designers should focus on giving the products the following properties: ease of access, ease of handling, ease of separation and wear resistance. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.