A General Modeling Framework for Cost Benefit Analysis of Remanufacturing
Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2009
Degree Name
Doctor of Science (DSc)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Once a product reaches its end of life (E.O.L), some or all of its parts may be still in proper working condition. The durable parts may be used in a next generation of the product to recover some of the embodied energy and materials of the E.O.L product and help saving the natural resources and reducing the waste toward a greener environment. Among different end of life options, we considered “remanufacturing” and developed a modeling framework for its cost benefit analysis. Our modeling framework focuses on the profitability of remanufacturing as it is a key motivating factor for remanufacturing the used product.
This modeling framework consists of three phases: take back, disassembly & reassembly, and resale. The first phase considers the process of buying back the used product from the customers, the second phase focused on modeling the disassembly of the taken back product into its cores and reassembly of the recovered cores into the remanufactured product, and last phase models marketing of the remanufactured product. In take back, different methods of motivating the customers to return their product along with other factors that can affect this process like advertisement and transportation, were modeled. In disassembly, both bulk (complete) and planned partial (optimum) disassembly were considered and compared. To determine the optimum disassembly plan (sequence), a novel technique was developed. It is non-graph technique that is much simpler to implement than the existing graph based methods, especially when the number of cores and their interconnections increases. The effect of uneven recovery rate of the used cores in the reassembly was considered and a model was developed to determine the optimum amount of new cores that should be included in remanufacturing. In resale phase the cost model was developed, using the conventional method of customer’s willingness (with some modifications), to include the competition of the remanufactured product with the new product. Factors that can affect this competition like warranty plans and advertisement for the remanufactured product was included in the model.
Application of this modeling framework to practical problems was demonstrated by several practical examples.
Language
English (en)
Chair
Mark J Jakiela
Committee Members
Kenneth L Jerina, Xavier Avula
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7XS5SBF