Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1513827
JANUARY 2024 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 39 endemic weaknesses in products, which could have been addressed by subtle design changes, processes, or material choices, are lost to the designer and manufacturer who are simply told instead that the product performance did not achieve its design intent. As our culture shis from consumption to sustainability, the right to repair is emerging and receiving more sup- port through govern- ment legislation. Sus- tainability advocates are pushing for products that last a lifetime, and have materials that can be recovered, recycled, and reused. e reman- ufacturing industry is predicted to grow and exceed that of original manufacturing. Design- ers need to start planning their future designs with this in mind, facing the prospect that some design information—for an uncontrolla- ble number of third-party repair, recycling, or recovery operations, all of which have a legal right to obtain certain portions of the prod- uct design IP—will need to be shared. Rather than let this market opportunity develop at random, designers and their manufacturers should plan the part they will play and whether it will be beneficial to replace original manu- facturing in terms of their growth with more managed market-based product repair, recov- ery, and recycling. A growing and tangible opportunity exists for design and manufacturing partners to plan their remanufacturing operations. eir first step would be to create a business plan that uses existing and underutilized rework experts in manufacturing to create an in-house busi- ness for repairs, returns, and material recovery. Access to the original design and MES manu- facturing data allows the streamlining of many maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities. ese can range from repairs, ser- vicing for extended life (product as a service), repurposing into another product, recovery of key materials and modules, and the ultimate recycling of materials. e advantage of taking a simple first step into in-house repair allows the discovery of what has contributed to the need for repair, in terms of usage, abuse, acci- dental damage, or prod- uct weakness caused by manufacturing or mate- rials defects that could have been improved by design. It allows design- ers to refine the reliabil- ity of products and life expectancies based on real product usage. e result will be more reliable products in the market, reduced costs, and less need to share design information with third parties. e concept of needless rework reduc- tion is clear to those in manufacturing today, and potentially represents a forward-thinking business opportunity to those in the business chain. For some, this practice has been suc- cessful for many years. Advanced MES tools include MRO support, achieving the benefits of understanding design and manufacturing the original product in context with the need for repair or reuse. e remainder of the indus- try has not been so driven to follow suit, but that is changing. SMT007 Michael Ford is the senior director of emerging industry strategy for Aegis Software. To read past columns, click here. A growing and tangible opportunity exists for design and manufacturing partners to plan their remanufac- turing operations.