Johan Östlin

Lean Production Principles in Remanufacturing A Case Study at a Toner Cartridge Remanufacturer

Scandi-Toner AB works with remanufacturing of toner cartridges; both color cartridges and black cartridges The company Scandi-Toner and the remanufacturing industry in general do, compared to ordinary manufacturing, have some specific characteristics that might limit the possibilities to apply lean production principles, due to the high degree of uncertainty in the production process. These uncertainties are mainly caused by two factors: the quantity and quality of returned cores. Overall, these characteristics make the remanufacturing material flow harder to control. Hence the purpose of this paper is to analyze if lean productions principles for material flow can be applied in a remanufacturing environment, and especially at the Swedish remanufacturer Scandi-Toner AB. The analysis shows that lean production principles can be applied in remanufacturing environments, with some constraints. For the case company the study showed that for example the workshop layout could be improved significantly according to lean production principles. The one major conclusion that can be drawn from this analysis are that the inherent characteristics of variable processing times and uncertainty in materials recovered have the major negative impact for implementing a lean production process. Vice versa, given an accurate supply of parts for reassembly, all the appropriate principles of a lean production material flow can be implemented in the phases of reassembly and testing.

Remanufacturing of Products used in Product Service System Offerings

As a product service system provider it is important to consider its benefits and drawbacks. Connecting the product service system with a remanufacturing system has a good potential of being economically and environmentally beneficial. This paper elucidates the case of three different remanufacturers and how their relation with their core provider affects their business. Products sold as a part of a product service system have great potential of being remanufactured in an efficient manner. This is for example due to large possibilities to plan the remanufacturing operations and to achieve pre-information about the cores coming in to the remanufacturing facilities.

Learning networks : a method for Integrated Product and Service Engineering - experience from the IPSE project

The aim with the Integrated Product and Service Engineering (IPSE) project is to develop a methodology for companies that want to make the journey of moving from selling products to also sell Integrated Product and Service Offerings. In order to achieve that major changes are needed in the companies. In this paper the learning network approach is described as well as the content of the workshop series that the companies participated in. The findings show that a learning network approach is beneficial methodology for achieving changes in the companies, since the participants learn from each other and from the researchers.

Concepts and definitions for product recovery Analysis and clarification of the terminology used in academia and industry

The focus of this book is the consideration of environmental issues in engineering process and product design. It presents a selection of 30 papers ensuing from the 12th CIRP International seminar ...

Effectiveness in the closed-loop supply chain: a study regarding remanufacturing

In remanufacturing, one of the key issues is to create effective supply chains. In the closed-loop supply chain which characterizes remanufacturing, there is both a flow of used products from the customer, as well as a flow of remanufactured products to the customer. In this paper, the relationship between the remanufacturer and the customer is considered through the analysis of five different cases in four industrial sectors. From these cases, five different closed-loop supply chain relationships are identified: ownership-based, deposit-based, and credit-based, as well as buyback and takeback relationships. By identifying these relationships, a better understanding can be gained about the closed-loop supply chain in remanufacturing. The identification of the different relationships is made to aid companies in the management and configuration of the closed-loop supply chain.

Material and Process Complexity - Implications for Remanufacturing

Remanufacturing is a complex business. Many different factors and decisions affect the performance of a remanufacturing process. In this paper, four different remanufacturing cases are analyzed in how they manage these complexities. Based on the generic remanufacturing process, remanufacturing can be divided into the five phases of pre-disassembly, disassembly, reprocessing, reassembly and post-assembly. In each of these phases, a discussion is made regarding the specific factors and decisions that influence the order and purpose of the individual operations

Development of an automatic cleaning process for toner cartridges

The remanufacturing process at the toner remanufacturing company Scandi-Toner is mostly based on manual work. The work environment is irritating and tiresome for employees due to high noise levels and amount of toner powder in the air. Therefore, Scandi-Toner decided to develop an automated cleaning process concept. The result of this research project was a concept based on different modules that together make it possible to isolate toner powder and absorb disturbing sounds. A high degree of flexibility was achieved by using transport tracks and palettes. The developed final concept is adaptable for future production flow with increased processing capability.

Case Study Analysis of Three Toner Cartridge Remanufacturers

Remanufacturing is often seen as an environmentally sound way of salvaging the energy that is put into products when shaped. A sector of remanufacturing that today has high volumes - and still is increasing - is that of toner cartridge remanufacturing. The investigation found that, in the sector of toner cartridge remanufacturing, most of the companies are independent of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), which creates a big competition between the actors, something that is especially evident when considering toner cartridge design. If the designs are to be improved and adapted for remanufacturing, the research found that designers must focus on introducing toner cartridges with the properties of ease-of-identification, ease-of-access and wear resistance. The companies studied had a high commitment to quality, and were very much customer-focused. Areas that the companies should consider in order to achieve a process that is more lean/efficient were concluded to be visual management systems and the use of space, movement of materials and product line flow. Furthermore, the number of companies dealing with remanufacturing makes it harder to retrieve empties for customers. In this paper, there are several different strategies mentioned on how to retrieve cartridges