Remanufacturing process: literature review and gaps for further researches

Environmental regulations, consumer interest in environmentally friendly products or green products, scarce resources and the possibility of profitability have motivated companies to consider remanufacturing as part of the business model. The objective of this work is to identify the approaches and gaps in the remanufacturing process, as well as to characterize the contribution that academic publications can give to research in developing remanufactured products. The research strategy used to reach the objective was systematic literature review. Among the most important approaches identified in the literature are the Design for Remanufacturing to extend the product life cycle, application of product Life Cycle Assessment techniques to reduce energy and material resource expenditures in manufacturing processes, planning of integrated systems between services and products for resource conservation and environmental strategies, affirmation of the Circular Economy for remanufacturing and recycling applications, development of regulatory policies for the global remanufacturing system. Main gaps point to a lack of performance indicators definition of remanufacturing-related processes, uses of Life Cycle Assessment techniques to measure the environmental impact associated with remanufacturing activities, and the development of regulatory policies. The authors of this article believe that the information presented here can be useful for researches in their future studies and for industry professionals interested in improving manufacturing processes.