Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Demystifying process-level scalability challenges in fashion

remanufacturing: An interdependence perspective
Rudrajeet Pal a, *, Yasaman Samie b, 1, Armaghan Chizaryfard c, d, 1
a
Swedish School of Textiles, Department of Business Administration & Textile Management, University of Borås, Allegatan 1, 501 90, Borås, Sweden
b
Department of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University, 25 Dawson St, Brunswick, VIC, 3056, Australia
c
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini, 20156, Milan, Italy
d
Department of Industrial Economics and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lindstedtsva €gen 30, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The purpose of this paper is to determine how process-level challenges can be solved in order improve
Received 20 February 2020 scalability of fashion remanufacturing. In order to do so, and prescribe solutions, the paper first conducts
Received in revised form a systematic literature review to reveal three categories of process-level challenges that are related to
16 October 2020
sourcing of input material, process throughput time, and skillset requirement. These categories further
Accepted 8 December 2020
Available online 10 December 2020
guided us in conducting case study with a Swedish charity-owned fashion remanufacturer for exploring
how the challenges are addressed and solved in order to achieve process-level scalability. First, our study
Handling editor. Yutao Wang reveals a systematized approach to determine product-process categories defined by production volume
and degree of remanufacturing. Second, by exploring the process-level challenges of six different
Keywords: remanufactured product groups in the case study organization we identify process-level requirements
Remanufacturing for scalability, and challenges when these are unmet. The findings show that in fashion remanufacturing
Upcycling (particularly disassembly and reassembly), low degree of coupling, high level of formalization of activ-
Fashion ities and low skill specificity can be ways to attain process-level scalability. Overall, this highlights the
Scale
need to build lower interdependence between disassembly and reassembly during fashion
Process interdependence
remanufacturing.
Circular economy
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction fashion industry for extending product use life, improving resource
and energy efficiencies and gain circularity by counteracting
Global fashion consumption has nearly doubled since 2000 planned and premature obsolescence (Dissanayake and Sinha,
largely due to the rapid expansion of fast fashion (Pulse of Fashion 2015; Singh et al., 2019). For instance, Woolridge et al. (2006)
Industry, 2017). This has not only resulted in nearly doubling the assert that for every kilogram of virgin cotton (and polyester) be-
sales of clothing from $1 trillion between 2002 and 2015 (projected ing replaced by used clothes (i.e. either second-hand or redesigned
to rise to $2.1 trillion by 2025), but also has increased fashion waste or upcycled) almost 65 kWh (and 90 kWh) energy is saved. Addi-
to about 91 million tons (in 2015), i.e. roughly 17.5 kg per capita tionally, such circularity-based business models place lesser de-
(ibid.). Consequently, the potential to harm the environment has mand for virgin fibres and generate lesser effluents from industrial
risen as well (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015). It is projected that rise conversion processes such as dyeing (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015).
in clothing consumption will increase the water consumption, en- Consequently, remanufacturing in the context of circular economy
ergy usage, and waste creation by 50%, 63%, and 62% respectively by can deliver in most conditions lower eco-costs of pollution, as
2030 (Pulse of Fashion Industry, 2017). already evidenced in other industrial sectors such as automotive
In this context, remanufacturing can play a vital role in the and machine tools where it has been implemented industrially on a
larger scale (see e.g. Seitz et al., 2006; Li et al., 2015; Lage et al.,
2016; Casper and Sundin, 2018).
* Corresponding author. In addition to these eco-benefits, used clothes upgraded
E-mail addresses: rudrajeet.pal@hb.se (R. Pal), yassie.samie@rmit.edu.au through remanufacturing, currently practiced as redesign or
(Y. Samie), armaghan.chizayfard@indek.kth.se, armaghan.chizaryfard@polimi.it
(A. Chizaryfard).
upcycling, i.e. replacing few panels of a garment with new ones etc.,
1
These authors contributed equally to this work. may provide new look, aesthetics and customer value (Keith and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125498
0959-6526/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

Silies, 2015; Han et al., 2017; Pal and Gander, 2018). This has Thurston (2006), remanufacturing is typically a more efficient
encouraged many fashion designers to undertake remanufacturing mean of material recirculation than recycling as it retains higher
e primarily as redesign or upcycling e in their businesses as a new energy associated with the original conversion of raw materials to
opportunity towards circular economy. However, what funda- finished product. By replacing the use of virgin materials, rema-
mentally differentiates fashion remanufacturing from redesign or nufacturing can be recognized as one of the best methods for
upcycling beyond differences in market opportunity e in terms of sustainable production, managing wastes and eco-efficient value
product end use or function, consumer preference and need for creation (Krystofik et al., 2015; Vogtlander et al., 2017). Wen-hui
warranty e is the degree of process-level industrialization in order et al. (2011) state that the quality of a remanufactured product
to attain scale (Dissanayake and Sinha 2015; Singh et al., 2019). and its performance is not less than that of a new product, by
Scalability, in this context, refers to the ability to carry out industrial considering the fact that it has lower eco-costs, shorter production
processes preferably in a “factory” environment with certain de- cycle and processing time, and lesser negative impacts on the
grees of reproducibility to attain high volume (Goodall et al., 2014; environment compared to the production of new products. Though
He, 2015). high process cost is highlighted as a recurring challenge in rema-
Although the market opportunity for remanufactured products nufacturing, mainly due to high labour intensity of various manual
seems promising, there lies huge uncertainty in the re- operations involved with reassembly and disassembly (e.g. Jiang
manufacturer’s internal processes leading to a number of process- et al., 2016; Oh and Behdad, 2017), in certain developing econo-
level challenges, defined in terms of quantities and timing of mies such as China remanufacturing industry has enjoyed higher
returns, recovery time, cost, product quality and upgradability competitiveness due to low cost (Wen-hui et al., 2011). Moreover,
(Ferguson, 2009; Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018). Many of these Vogtlander et al. (2017) shows by applying a model for eco-efficient
process-level challenges, such as those related to difficulty in value creation (EVC) that combines analyses of costs, market value
sourcing sufficient and appropriate quality of used materials, time- and eco-costs, remanufacturing of products can deliver lower eco-
consuming processes, and lack of specialist skills, equipment and costs of materials depletion and pollution, thus positive cost-
tools, currently hinder industrial scalability of fashion remanu- benefit.
facturing, and thus in attaining its full potential (Dissanayake and The concept of remanufacturing is often closely associated with
Sinha, 2015; Pal and Gander, 2018; Singh et al., 2019). Addition- other recovery options such as refurbishment, reconditioning and
ally, specific to fashion remanufacturing, the challenge is that gar- repair. Although they share various commonalities in the process
ments are conventionally non-modular in product architecture that with remanufacturing, the fundamental difference lies in terms of
makes dis- and re-assembly processes far less efficient and more warranty, final product performance and positioning in the mate-
time-consuming compared to products such as mobile phones or rial flow loop (Charter and Gray, 2008; Gallo et al., 2012). For
computers where components are easier to separate. Overall as a instance, reconditioning returns a product functionally to almost
consequence, of lack of scalability, fashion remanufacturing today is same as new product condition but unlike remanufacturing it
practiced mostly as craft or in pilot scale, described as redesign or might not necessarily provide warranty and the process might not
upcycling (Young et al., 2004; Han et al., 2017) and not as rema- include disassembly and cleaning of all product parts (Charter and
nufacturing. This highlights the importance of exploring scalability Gray, 2008). Moreover, it can be stated that remanufacturing is a
challenges and solutions in the fashion remanufacturing. Given process, i.e. comprising of a set of interlinked activities, rather than
this, the purpose of the paper is to determine how process-level a single step as like repair or reconditioning, aimed at restoring the
challenges can be solved in order to improve scalability of fashion performance of a product (Gallo et al., 2012).
remanufacturing.
The remaining paper is organized as follows: first a conceptual 2.2. Fashion remanufacturing process
background is provided on remanufacturing in general and fashion
remanufacturing in particular. Next, a two-stage research meth- In fashion context, remanufacturing aims at remaking used
odology comprising of systematic literature review (SLR) and in- clothes so that the product at least equals to newly manufactured
depth embedded case study is presented, followed by presenta- garments in terms of quality or customer value. Dissanayake and
tion of the findings. Finally, we provide analytical interpretation of Sinha (2015) define remanufactured fashion as “fashion clothing
the case findings from an interdependence perspective to draw that is constructed by using reclaimed fabrics, which can be either
relevant conclusions. post-industrial or post-consumer waste or a combination of both”.
This way, the core part, i.e. the fabric of the end-of-use garments is
2. Conceptual background reclaimed and refurbished. Consumer’s willingness-to-pay for
remanufactured fashion products to that of new ones, expressed as
2.1. Remanufacturing in circular economy context a discount factor, is often >1 (Kleber et al., 2018).
The concept of fashion remanufacturing became more popular
Remanufacturing can be defined as an industrial process to at the beginning of 21st century among sustainability-oriented
restore the core part of end-of-use products as it passes through a fashion designers and entrepreneurs in order to develop sustain-
series of steps, such as inspection, disassembly, part replacement/ able collections out of post-consumer textile and clothing waste
refurbishment, cleaning, reassembly, and testing to ensure meeting (Gwilt and Rissanen, 2011; Niinim€ aki and Hassi, 2011). In general,
desired product standards (Goodall et al., 2014; Lieder and Rashid, extant literature highlights the process of remanufacturing com-
2016; Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018). In sectors such as auto- prises of: (i) efficient reverse logistics and (ii) product development
motive and machine tools, remanufacturing is largely related to (Charter and Gray, 2008; Wen-hui et al., 2011). Fashion reverse
efficient reclamation of the core parts, receiving product design logistics starts with retrieving the discarded garments from various
information and reducing uncertainty in the timing and quantity of sources, such as charities, end consumers, retailers, waste collectors
return, by predominantly using hybrid manufacturing/remanu- and sorting facilities. This continues further with the sorting of the
facturing systems (Aras et al., 2006). collected items on the basis of a number of criteria, like fabric type,
In context to circular economy, remanufacturing ensures not colour, and product category (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015). Fol-
only recovery of end-of-use products but also in adding value lowed by an optional cleaning procedure the sorted items are ready
(Charter and Gray, 2008; Gallo et al., 2012). According to Nasr and for remanufacturing, i.e. when the product development process
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R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

initiates. Fashion reverse logistics also include final distribution, Although our paper involves an initial consultation of existing
marketing and retailing of the remanufactured items. Dissanayake literature, through an SLR, in order to reveal the categories of
and Sinha (2015) highlight five steps underlying fashion remanu- process-level challenges, we cannot reveal direct connection to the
facturing product development: solutions prescribed, and more importantly not specific to fashion
remanufacturing. In line with inductive reasoning, this makes it
1. Trend and material analysis, crucial to consult an observed case for understanding how the
2. Concept development, starting with manual disassembly of the challenges are managed, and scalability solutions are prescribed,
garments by unpicking the seamed threads or cutting along the thus rigorously analyse data and express in relation to current
seams, followed by design development often using either theory. We follow an inductive approach in line with Gioia et al.
draping techniques or pattern cutting, (2013), where an appropriate choice of case context sufficiently
3. Sample preparation to showcase a collection for potential retail reveals in-depth understanding of the complex phenomenon, i.e. in
buyers, here, process-level challenges to fashion remanufacturing scal-
4. Pattern development and single-ply cutting performed manu- ability, and at the same time explores real-world solutions. This
ally from the flat fabrics, and adjustments being made during approach also fits our research purpose well, given the relatively
cutting due to fabric restrictions, and broad focus on scalability challenges and solutions proposed in
5. Final assembly as an individual/whole garment. existing literature (e.g. Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018).

From a decision-making perspective, disassembly and reas- 3.2.1. Case selection and description
sembly are based on the creative eye of the designer and rationality The fashion remanufacturing cases are embedded in a Swedish
of the remanufacturer (Janigo et al., 2017), thus highlighting the fashion remanufacturer (referred as RemCo from now on). RemCo is
presence of rule-of-thumb based heuristics. over 15 years old, and is a part of one of Sweden’s largest charity
organization. It currently produces over 2500 remanufactured
3. Methodology products per year across 25 different varieties at its 3 mini-factories
in Stockholm, which is sold via one store. Products include fashion
To fulfil the purpose a two-stage methodology is adopted. A items, like jackets, shirts, trousers, as well as accessories, and can be
systematic literature review (SLR) provides the starting point for classified as unisex, uni-size and freestyle, as the style, design and
identifying the process-level challenges, and prescribed solutions, the patterns remains the same throughout the year with slight
specific to fashion remanufacturing, particularly because the cur- adjustments are being made in the material, fabrics and colour
rent academic literature still remains quite fragmented on these palette. These remanufactured products as cases are typically
topics (Singh et al., 2019). This is followed by an in-depth case study categorized in RemCo into three categories depending upon the
to explore scalability solutions from practice. degree of remanufacturing:

3.1. Systematic literature review (SLR) - “Sewn from scratch” type when products are first fully-
disassembled, i.e. totally opened up and un-seamed, and
Search was conducted on Scopus database, with search string/ turned to flat fabric. The smaller pieces of fully-disassembled
combination (“remanufact*" OR “upcycl*" OR “remak*" OR “rede- products are then sewn together to make wider and longer
sign”) AND (“textile” OR “cloth*" OR “apparel” OR “fashion”) AND fabric strips called “snakes” from which an entirely new fashion
(“challeng*” OR “barrier” OR “problem” OR “limitation”) in the title, product is produced by making completely new patterns. Fig. 1
abstract and keywords. The search was limited to retrieving only depicts how standard-sized “snakes” are formed from two used
journal articles written in English, and those falling under the garments, and then a completely new garment is assembled.
subject areas of business and economics, social science or envi- - “Cut, add and put-together” type when products are semi-
ronmental science, thus resulting in a total of 45 papers. After disassembled and semi-reassembled. Disassembly is limited to
reading the abstracts and looking for the relevance in the content in few major or minor cuts at specific predetermined locations.
terms of addressing remanufacturing challenges at the process- Depending on the design and style of the new products, the old
level, only 8 papers were selected which further reduced to a garments that have already been cut into major pieces are
final list of 4 after full reading (see Appendix 1, column 3). stitched together. Fig. 2 shows an example of remanufacturing a
Given this relative dearth in literature on process-level chal- narrow shirt made out of three garments e a yellow base
lenges found in context to fashion remanufacturing, the search was garment and two additional ones in blue and green.
broadened to cover entire remanufacturing literature, with string/ - “Minor-value adding” type when products are not cut or dis-
combination “remanufact*” in the title AND “challeng*” in the title, assembled, instead remanufacturing is conducted only through
abstract and keywords, thus retrieving 74 papers. With the same certain value-added recoupling activities, e.g. stitching, printing,
restrictions put in the search as prescribed above, and after abstract embroidering and patching etc. Fig. 3 shows the patchwork on a
and full paper readings, 16 papers were found relevant. Most of jeans packet without disassembling it, and additionally other
these papers (14 out of 16) were published 2015 onwards while possible options are sketched.
Journal of Cleaner Production was the most popular outlet (pub-
lishing 4 of them). Further topical description of these papers can In line with the approach prescribed by Gioia et al. (2013), these
be found in Appendix 1 (column 2). cases as representative of variations in product-process structure
provides us deep explanation of the scalability challenges and so-
3.2. Case study approach lutions in fashion remanufacturing context, thus aiming to increase
richness and relevance for theory building.
Given the general lack of conceptual and empirical attention to These products have different levels of production complexities,
explore process scalability in remanufacturing, and more specif- in terms of input volume and acquisition difficulties, requirements
ically in fashion industry, the choice of conducting an explorative of manual labour intensity and skill for construction, and degrees of
case study is pertinent for developing novel theoretical insights disassembly and reassembly. This makes RemCo’s fashion rema-
that are firmly rooted in practice (Langley and Abdallah, 2011). nufacturing and its planning interesting from a scalability
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R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

Fig. 1. Representative “Sewn from scratch” type of remanufactured products.

Fig. 2. Representative “Cut, add and put-together” type of remanufactured products.

perspective, as no ‘one-size’ approach ‘fits-for-all’, thus providing a 3.2.2. Data collection and analysis
rich source of evidences required for explorative case study For conducting this case study, data was collected in a number of
(Flyvbjerg, 2006). For instance, RemCo has many products that are ways, primarily through on-site observations. Two researchers
“sewn from scratch” from the material that are made from meters spent six weeks in total at RemCo’s facilities where they observed
of fabric formed by sewing patches of cut fabrics, or by “cutting, the product development and production stages constituting the
adding and putting together” multiple garments. These categories remanufacturing process. These observations were mainly docu-
require different resources and capabilities, key design elements, mented in formats, such as visual process maps and photographs/
decision criteria and process level interdependencies depending videos. Visual data captured in the form of photographs and videos
upon the required degree of remanufacturing. (~1.1 GB) recorded different activities and operations that were

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Fig. 3. Representative “Minor-value adding” type of remanufactured products.

conducted on the factory floor at various intervals. These served as For data analysis, multiple data types (interview-based field
a rich source of evidential data for formulating and depicting the notes, visual recordings like photos/videos) were aggregated and
remanufacturing processes, i.e. how the workers are involved in utilized collectively to generate understanding of the challenges
finding the right garments to disassemble, how garments are and solutions (see section 5). For instance, the visual representa-
unseamed, how the reassembly are processes organized etc. tions of the products/processes (Figs. 1e4) provided first-hand in-
Additionally several charts and images were also gathered, e.g. formation of the remanufacturing processes which then were
product construction diagrams (Figs. 1e3), instruction manuals and rechecked or verified through the qualitative information gathered
production process plans (Fig. 4). via interviews and verbal communication with the respondents.
During this process of observation, informal conservations were Such process data analysis involving visual mapping strategy
conducted randomly and on a daily basis with the key personnel (Langley, 1999), and serves as a good way to develop mental models
working with remanufacturing, such as designers, seamstresses and knowhow in an explorative manner considering that formal-
and pattern makers. Account of these “talks” or conversations were ized approaches are yet less available in this context. By doing so,
kept only as short, factual, hand-written notes in the field diary the research objective of “fact-finding” is complemented by “good”
(Swain and Spire, 2020) in the spirit of clarifying some of the ob- theory building (Wacker, 1998), in context to finding solutions to
servations that were made by the researchers during the fieldwork process-level challenges in fashion remanufacturing.
to get understanding of RemCo’s activities. These conversations
were kept informal as the respondents only had knowledge of
limited number of activities, i.e. of what they are associated with.
4. Process-level challenges and solutions in remanufacturing:
Furthermore, they had limited reflective and decision-making po-
from SLR
wer as their work was mostly “blue-collar” in nature. However, in
order to get a more complete and strategic view on RemCo’s
In line with the six process-level challenges in remanufacturing
product groups, process structure, underlying challenges and
defined by Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al. (2018), appendix 1 provides a
scalability solutions, 3 semi-structured interviews were conducted
detailed mapping of these challenges (in column 2) found through
with the lead designer (and originator) of RemCo who had the best
SLR, and then draws connection to those found in context to fashion
and most complete information of all the activities. The lead
remanufacturing (in column 3). Additionally, the prescribed solu-
designer possessed the creative vision and foresight related to
tions found through SLR are also summarized (in columns 5 and 6).
current situation and future requirements at RemCo connected to
The remanufacturing process-level challenge categories as identi-
advancing the scalability of fashion remanufacturing. Appendix 2
fied through SLR (in column 4), namely those related to sourcing of
includes a key set of questions that were asked, however for ho-
input material, processing time, and skillset requirement, forms the
mogeneity in recording and interpreting the data these were also
basis of further elaboration below, and for subsequent case study
documented as field notes.
exploration in section 5.

Fig. 4. Fashion remanufacturing process mapping at RemCo.

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4.1. Sourcing of input material-related 4.3. Skillset requirement-related

Volume and quality of incoming product core are the main In general, remanufacturing operations such as disassembly are
challenges related to proper acquisition and management of mate- conducted manually, which demands more time and are subjected
rial for remanufacturing. When it comes to volume, several factors to higher human error. Further, as remanufacturing processes are
such as supply shortage, stochastic and unreliable returns, and re- highly uncertain in terms of level, sequence, methods, and quality
covery uncertainty are revealed through SLR (e.g. Casper and Sundin, standards, the remanufacturer’s skills and experience plays a vital
2018). Quality variation of the incoming material and lack of stan- role. Literature has highlighted the lack of knowledge and skills (Lie
dardized quality control/inspection is also a major challenge (e.g. et al., 2018; Priyono and Idris, 2018) in monitoring product-process
Priyono and Idris, 2018). For fashion remanufacturing, similar chal- reliability and quality, and subsequently standardize these aspects,
lenges related to sourcing input material reverberate, those related which is also prominent in fashion remanufacturing (e.g. Singh
mainly to variability of the timing and quantity of consumer returns, et al., 2019).
and in their quality. Ensuring a predictable and stable flow of reused Prescribed solutions highlight the role of increasing qualifica-
materials, mainly second-hand garments from different post- tion of the remanufacturers (Casper and Sundin, 2018; Kurilova-
consumer waste streams is a challenge for remanufacturing busi- Palisaitiene et al., 2018), which can be achieved through
nesses. In terms of quality, fashion remanufacturers largely rely on employee cross-training, team-work and learning through problem
collection of post-consumer material, e.g. fast fashion items, which solving. In fashion remanufacturing (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015;
leads to uncertainty and unreliability in the quality of the collected Han et al., 2017), designers’ creative capacity and technical capa-
and recovered material (Singh et al., 2019), due to high wear and tear. bilities together with tacit knowledge have a crucial role in
It is comprehended that remanufacturing using post-industrial (or increasing fashion remanufacturing production efficiency and vol-
pre-consumer) waste, could provide more consistent quality and ume. This invokes more centralized role of design-makers. Along
reliable supply as source materials (Han et al., 2017). with, technology uptake, such as application of innovative design
This pinpoints the need for internal integration and collabora- and product development approaches help to remove the
tion (Golinska-Dawson et al., 2015; Jiang et al., 2016; Kalverkamp complexity and need for manual interventions in fashion rema-
and Raabe, 2018; Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018). Internal coor- nufacturing process.
dination, e.g. through vertical integration, can increase component
specificity, standardize operations, or create integrated quality 5. Case study findings
evaluation, that can support development of a standard level in
remanufactured products and to scale up the production. Collabo- The case study reveals a systematized approach to organize
ration, on the other hand, by diversifying the supply sources fashion remanufacturing process at RemCo, compared to rule-of-
through networking can ensure efficient reverse flow of material. thumb heuristics. RemCo’s remanufacturing process largely serves
Such collaborative networks can be perceived in fashion context, as a foundation for understanding how the three categories of
e.g. between the remanufacturers and textile recyclers (sorter and process-level scalability challenges, i.e. sourcing of input material-,
collector), together with local craft entrepreneurs, in order to process throughput time-, and skillset requirement-related are
guarantee required standards and volumes (Dissanayake and Sinha, solved.
2015). However, such collaboration operates mainly at the system-
level (Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018), beyond the re- 5.1. Fashion remanufacturing product-process categories at RemCo
manufacturer’s process-level solutions.
RemCo’s product categories are defined on the basis of its pro-
4.2. Process throughput time-related duction volume. As in fashion remanufacturing standardization can
be difficult to achieve due to lack of repeatability of the incoming
Operational challenges in terms of randomness in timing and material, the production order volumes are considerably small
long throughput time (Franke et al., 2006; Golinska-Dawson et al., compared to conventional apparel production, yet it is significantly
2015; Lage and Godinho, 2016; Priyono and Idris, 2018; Li et al., higher compared to redesign and upcycling pilots. Based on many
2019), were found to be main ones related to remanufacturing. years of remanufacturing experience, RemCo has heuristically
These further result in the capacity planning and task levelling determined three categories to define yearly production volume for
difficult due to the inherent variability and low reliability in the each of its products; these are:
remanufacturing processes. On similar lines, fashion remanu-
facturing processes have been reported to be time-consuming and
Mass volume, referring to yearly production V  100 items,
random, thus difficult to plan capacity and schedule. For instance,
Standard volume, if 10 ¼ V < 100, and
Dissanayake and Sinha (2015) explain how variable and unpre-
Limited volume, if V < 10.
dictable processing time makes it difficult to establish control over
garment disassembly and cutting during remanufacturing. Process mapping (Fig. 4) revealed that the pre-production stage
Three categories of solutions are prescribed to address these at RemCo starts with monthly demand order planning evaluated
challenges. Firstly, automation of remanufacturing process tech- based on the previous month’s sales report from the store. In fact,
nologies, e.g. for disassembly, pattern cutting etc. can reduce the the sales report is availed on a weekly basis, based on which the
throughput time. Secondly, improved routing during remanu- input materials are picked from the sorted piles of used clothes in
facturing tasks, either by improving facility layout plan, or by the sorting facility. Typically, these items are the cre me of the
creating aggregated planning and scheduling for levelling capacity, sorted used clothes. In case of continuous availability of the
have been prescribed by some authors (e.g. Lage and Godinho, requisite input material, the clothes are directly send to the prep-
2016; Kwak, 2018; Li et al., 2019). In fashion remanufacturing, aration stage, where all the used clothes are washed and inspected
such aspects are highlighted by using flexible or modular before being approved of entering the remanufacturing process. In
manufacturing. Finally, role of support systems, such as visual tools case the input material is hard to find, there is an intermediate
and standard instructions are also relevant for reducing process storage to pile-up adequate stock before being send for washing
variability and complexity. and inspection. Cleaning and inspection are thus mandatory for
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R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

every input material entering the remanufacturing process. The ones. These garments are first, sorted and selected by the lead
weekly sales status also serves as an information to determine how designer usually based on their size, style, colour and fabric ma-
many items, and which ones, from the storage sections would be terial so that mix-and-match later is easy. The selected garments
disassembled and reassembled. are then hung next to each other for “package making”. The
After cleaning and inspection stages, the clothes are ready for disassembly starts with manual single piece cutting of the gar-
the first stage of disassembly and raw material preparation. At this ments as per instruction in the construction sheet, and is at pre-
stage, the decision taken is whether a garment will undergo full-, determined positions as shown in Fig. 2. Next, the cut garments
semi- or no-disassembly, and this is based on the requirements are ironed and are matched once more in terms of their sizes as
specified in the product construction sheet. Typically, such de- well as the quality of cut, before finally the pieces are sewn
cisions are taken by the lead designer in the team due to the need together. Sewing can be complicated, which includes sewing of the
for judging the suitability of the material based quality and top part of the garment to the middle and subsequently the bottom
redesign-ability. Such clinical cognition of the foreseeable rema- part.
nufactured products is crucial in order to segregate the input raw Out of the “minor-value adding” products, most common are the
materials in different shelves of the sorting section, by taking into patched ones, i.e. patched t-shirt or denim jacket. The process of
consideration different aspects, such as design, technical parame- sorting and selection of the right item is done by the lead designer
ters like fabric quality, and stock repeatability. Intermediate in- based on durability, style, fabric type etc. followed by matching the
ventories are also maintained in a storage section in various semi- decorative patches in terms of size and style with the base garment.
processed forms, such as patches, piles, overlocked pieces, cut The next step is stitching the decorative patches on the garment
patterns and snakes. either, on stitching or embroidery machines, or in some occasions
Further on-site observation revealed that in order to make the are hand-stitched.
products three generic remanufacturing process structures are
followed at RemCo, which are largely determined by the degree of 5.2. Evaluating RemCo’s fashion remanufacturing process-level
disassembly and reassembly required during remanufacturing. At scalability challenges for different product groups
Remco these are indicated by the number of activities constituting
the two remanufacturing sub-processes e disassembly and reas- Explorative mapping of the remanufactured products onto the
sembly. Here, degree of disassembly indicates the extent by which product-process categories reveals 6 distinct groups of products
the input material (i.e. the initial fashion product) goes through that are most regularly made at RemCo’s facilities, as shown in
disassembly operations in order to be ready for remanufacturing, Table 1. Considering that the supply and operational capacity re-
while the degree of reassembly refers to the extent of final rema- quirements, i.e. input material volume, throughput time demands
nufacturing conducted for the production of a remade fashion and remanufacturing skillset (Dissanayake and Sinha 2015), are
product. In general, fully-reassembled items are mostly produced vital to determine the process-level scalability of remanufacturing,
out of fully-disassembled products. Similarly, semi-disassembled the challenges were noticed to be surfacing out when these re-
products are processed into semi-reassembled new items. Also it quirements were unmet.
was observed that the fashion products which are not disassembled
are often the items that undergo minor value addition. Thus the
Input material volume (Iv): is determined by the ease or diffi-
three process structures observed at RemCo are represented by the culty in sourcing or accessing the appropriate material, mostly
different remanufactured product cases, i.e. “sewn from scratch”, second-hand garments for each product group and not at the
“cut, add and put-together” and “minor-value adding” types, aggregated level. Depending on several factors such as fabric
categorized on the basis of the degree of remanufacturing as shown material, weave construction, size and style, Iv (in kgs per
in Figs. 1e3. Typically the number of steps also varies: for full month) varies. Additionally, if the input material fails to satisfy
remanufacturing, number of process steps N is  8, for semi the key requirements laid during quality checks that happen
remanufacturing (5 ¼ N < 8), and for minor remanufacturing after several steps of remanufacturing operations, as depicted in
(4 ¼ N), as comparatively shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4, it can go back to the sorting plant. RemCo classifies Iv into:
The “sewn from scratch” process starts by sorting out the good Easy (Iv > 100 kgs), when there is a constant uptake of the input
quality items that are ready to be ironed and cut. Manual single ply materials for remanufacturing, Semi Easy (10 < Iv < 100 kgs),
cutting is done using specific rectangular pattern pieces to make when the material is relatively easy to find yet not necessarily
standard cut panels (27  16.5 cm2 and 27  10 cm2), which are appropriate for remanufacturing, and Hard (10  Iv), when it is
mix-and-matched, based on the colour, pattern, texture, fabric hard to find material often due to stringent quality re-
weight in order to ensure that the pieces to be joined are quirements. Thus final Iv for remanufacturing process is deter-
compatible. Once the combinations are approved these are over- mined by a number of factors, such as variety, quality,
lock stitched together into flat fabrics or “snakes”. However, compatibility.
“snakes” are not prepared separately for each product but rather
Throughput time demand (TD): indicates how time-
meters of flat fabrics are first prepared and later the products are consuming the remanufacturing processes are for each prod-
produced out of them. Thus these “snakes” are always made in uct group. At RemCo this is categorized as High, if TD is more
length more than 1 m and width of either 40 cm or 80 cm. Followed than two days, Intermediate if between one and two days, while
by overlocking the cut panels quality check is done, and in case of Low if lesser than 24 h. TD also includes non-value adding time
no defect or error, the pieces are sewn together thus resulting in (e.g. waiting time between dis- and re-assembly stages) that is
“snakes”. Subsequently paper patterns are placed on top of the typically longer with higher level of disassembly.
“snakes” to check the measurements, and if the patterns and the
Skillset requirement (S): At RemCo this is normally decided in
snake matches in terms of length and width, the patterns are cut terms of the experience gained by the workers, e.g. tailors, in
and sewn together. At Remco such routinization has resulted in terms of weeks of training received before joining the main
keeping small inventories, i.e. about 300 cut pieces as well as 3e4 remanufacturing floor. High skillset refers to when experienced
“snakes” to continuously meet the store orders. tailors who have been trained for more than 8 weeks are
In case of “cut, add and put-together” products, the process demanded to do remanufacturing. Moderate skillset refers to
starts with making packages of a base garment and 2-3 additional involvement of workers who haven’t had any experience in
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R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

Table 1
Mapping the main product groups.

Group Product examples Product-process categories Iv (in kgs per month) TD (in days) S (in months)

1 Jacket, coat Limited Volume þ “Sewn from scratch” Easy (Iv > 100) Higha (TD > 2) Higha (S > 2)
2 Narrow shirt, trousers, wide-knitted Standard Volume þ “Sewn from scratch” Easy (Iv > 100) Higha (TD > 2) Moderate (1 < S < 2)
sweater
3 Mega long shirt, kimono, knitted jumper Standard Volume þ “Cut, add and put- Harda (10<Iv) Higha (TD > 2) Moderate (1 < S < 2)
together”
4 50/50 shirt, long shirt Mass Volume þ “Cut, add and put-together” Easy (Iv > 100) Intermediate (1 < TD < 2) Moderate (1 < S < 2)
5 Denim jackets, patched denim jeans Standard Volume þ “Minor-value adding” Easy (Iv > 100) Higha (TD > 2) Low (S > 1)
6 T-shirt and college jumpers with patches Mass Volume þ “Minor-value adding” Easy (Iv > 100) Intermediate (1 < TD < 2) Moderate (1 < S < 2)

NOTE.
a
Highlights the pain points where the key process-level scalability challenges are located.

sewing in the past, but have been under training for a period of match process. We find solutions embedded in remanufacturing
1e2 months. Low skillset indicate that the remanufacturing can of other product groups at RemCo, by standardizing the use of
be conducted by involving workers who have been under disassembled material across different fully-disassembled products
training for less than a month. During interview, the lead or by conducting redesign activities (e.g. patchworks) independent
designer indicated that not necessarily all the trainees manage of the input material type in “minor-value added” products. Such
to develop same level of skills over a given time however standardization approach through component commonality is also
trainees mostly are proven to gain relatively high level of sewing indicated by Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al. (2018), though low task
and cutting skills over a period of 2 months. standardization and inability to level production often arises as a
major problem in remanufacturing operations due to inherent
unreliability in quality (Priyono and Idris, 2018).
5.3. Summary of the process-level scalability challenges Another key challenge evident across many fashion remanu-
facturing product groups (1, 2, 3 and 5) at RemCo is long process
The following can be concluded from the RemCo case study: throughput time, as also reflected in previous studies (e.g.
Golinska-Dawson et al., 2015; Han et al., 2017; Singh et al., 2019).

Product groups 1 and 2, made through full remanufacturing, Among solutions prescribed in remanufacturing literature (e.g.
demand both higher TD and S. These constraints restrict the Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018), we find use of visual aids or tools,
production volume even though sourcing is not a concern with such as construction charts helpful for improving fashion rema-
continuously available materials. nufacturing process efficiency. Remanufacturing literature have

The semi-remanufactured products (Groups 3 and 4), require mostly highlighted rule-of-thumb heuristics for decision-making at
comparatively lower TD and S; thus higher production volume different stages (Gallo et al., 2012), and in fashion context this is
could be attained for such products. However, reassembly in largely based on the creativity of the designer (Dissanayake and
product group 3 require adding 2/3 garment parts on the base Sinha, 2015; Han et al., 2017). Unlike upcycling fashion processes
garments, and producing such products require careful mix- where most often design ideas are experimentally developed by
and-match of different styles, materials, fabric textures, col- directly reworking the disassembled fabric pieces/second hand
ours and sizes, along with rigorous quality check after every clothes through techniques such as draping (Dissanayake and
step, thus making TD high. These supply and operational con- Sinha, 2015), at RemCo development of design concepts and ideas
straints reduce Iv. are not generated through experimentation with the available

The products with no disassembly and minor value addition (i.e. material. Instead product design development is conducted before-
Groups 5 and 6) are expected to require comparatively less TD hand in order to develop standard sketches and patterns for “sewn
and S, due to lesser demand placed on disassembly and reas- from scratch” products (as show in Fig. 1), or to determine and set
sembly. However, the patched products (Group 5) require the cutting positions in case of “cut, add and put-together” prod-
higher TD due to the need to join manually multiple patches on ucts (as show in Fig. 2). This enhances the formalized approach in
the base denim garment. Compared to group 5 denims, group 6 the disassembly process stage, and thus process efficiency.
products required lesser TD for patchworking due to several Finally, in order to counter the general lack of knowledge and
factors affecting average sewing time, such as choice of fabric skillset in remanufacturing (Priyono and Idris, 2018; Singh et al.,
rigidity, design elements and size of selected patches. 2019), that is otherwise required to conduct highly labour-
intensive fashion remanufacturing more efficiently (Dissanayake
6. Analytical discussion and Sinha, 2015), RemCo has formalized its approach by creating
standard codifications of remanufacturing techniques. This has
6.1. Prescribing fashion remanufacturing process scalability been helpful in routinizing the workforce to perform certain crea-
solutions tive remanufacturing steps in a more repetitive way. For instance,
while producing the “sewn from scratch” products where patterns
Systematic evaluation of the remanufactured product groups, are cut out of initially formed ‘snakes’, this can help in increasing
process stages and their key sourcing and operational requirements the scalability of the process. Such codifications are crucial in
embedded in the RemCo case study, revealed clear solutions to reducing dependency on tacit remanufacturing skills (based on
overcome the scalability challenges, as summed in Table 2. experience) and creative capacity of individual designers/opera-
Inadequate access to right quality input material, as also high- tors, and to routinize practices at the production floor. Typically, it
lighted as a challenge in extant literature (e.g. Casper and Sundin, has become easier for the operators to work across different
2018; Priyono and Idris, 2018; Singh et al., 2019), is found in case product groups as they do not need to undergo product-specific
of remanufacturing of products in group 3, which are “cut, added trainings, but instead learn generic industrial sewing and
and put-together” following a strategic and creative mix-and- tailoring via a standard training program that varies between 1

8
R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

Table 2
Remanufacturing scalability solutions.

Remanufacturing Process-level scalability challenges Scalability solution observed/prescribed Interdependence

challenge
categories

Sourcing of input Low Iv (for group 3) In other product groups (in Table 1), de/low coupling between dis- and re- Process (De)
material … as process demands aggregated over dis- and re- assembly places lesser aggregation of stringent requirements on what to Coupling
assembly stages are high to create high filtering/removal. source, e.g. forming “snakes” is independent of reassembly type and styles
in groups 1 and 2. Also in no-minor (in groups 5 and 6), the value-added
patchworks etc. are independent of input material type (passing quality
checks).
Process High TD (for groups 1, 2, 3, 5)… Improving process-level efficiency by creating formalized rules for Formalized
throughput as process variability is high resulting in low disassembly. For full disassembly both standard panels are developed (in activities
time demand remanufacturing volume. groups 1 and 2), while for semi-disassembly cutting is done at set
positions and places (in group 3).
Skillset High S (for group 1) In other product groups (in Table 1), workforce skills were improved by Skill specificity
requirement … as skill requirements are high for complex creating standard codifications of remanufacturing techniques in order to
remanufacturing products. routinize activities, e.g. in fully disassembled þ fully reassembled products
by forming snakes in standard, repetitive manner.
Low skill specificity across product groups to reduce challenges of dealing
with high process variability.

week and 2 months depending upon their initial skill level of the product groups, as revealed above, thus allowing more process
worker. repeatability.

7. Conclusion
6.2. Toward theorizing remanufacturing process scalability from
interdependence perspective
In the paper, process-level challenges hindering scaling-up of
fashion remanufacturing were studied. An SLR employed, revealed
From the analysis above, we observe different forms of in-
three categories of process-level challenges related to: sourcing of
terdependences e explained by process (de)coupling, formalization
input material, process throughput time, and skillset requirement.
of activities and skill specificity e in the tasks carried out within
These categories were further utilized for conducting the case
RemCo’s fashion remanufacturing processes e in particular during
study, focussed on exploring how these challenges are addressed
disassembly and reassembly. Bringing in process interdependence
and solved in order to achieve process-level scalability. Given a
perspective, specifically derived from Thompson (1967), in terms of
dearth in literature on remanufacturing process management in
its nature, type of coordination, and characteristics (Crook and
general, and particularly to explain scalability, the case study pro-
Combs, 2007), enable demystifying the process-level scalability
vides a theoretically grounded explanation to this problem. The
challenges in fashion remanufacturing context.
findings show that low degree of coupling, high level of formaliza-
Coupling, explains the nature of interdependence found in pro-
tion of activities and low skill specificity while undertaking the
cess/task dyads (Orton and Weick, 1990), thus providing clarifica-
remanufacturing processes (particularly disassembly and reas-
tion to the observed loosely-/de-coupled structure that exists
sembly) can be ways to address process-level scalability challenges
between disassembly and reassembly in fashion remanufacturing.
and devise solutions. Overall, our study pinpoints the necessity to
As evidenced from our findings, decoupling was observed in case of
build lower interdependence between disassembly and reassembly
two remanufacturing process structures, first while producing
processes to improve scalability.
standard “snakes” that was independent of the type and style of the
remanufactured products, and second for redesign activities (e.g.
patchworks) that was independent of the input material type. This 7.1. Theoretical implications
reduced the interdependence between disassembly and reassem-
bly, even though in general sequential interdependences are asso- Specifically, this paper contributes by creating a better under-
ciated with higher inseparability and integrated functionalities standing of the how to tackle process-level challenges in remanu-
(Thompson, 1967). This resulted in increasing the scope of stan- facturing by enhancing workflow, on the top of lean improvements
dardizing the input material for different product groups, thus as prescribed in Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al. (2018), thus result in
facilitating scalability. Formalization, as another crucial aspect of improving scalability. In addition, established in the organizational
interdependence, explains to what extent are activities codifiable, theories of firms (e.g. Weick, 1976), the paper shows how the three
thus practices can be transferred and routinized. Remanufacturing inter-related concepts of (de)coupling, formalization and specificity
literature has mostly highlighted heuristic decision-making along explain the nature and characteristics of process/task interdepen-
different stages, based on the creative eye of the remanufacturer/ dence that is sequential between disassembly and reassembly in
designer. However, in our study, more formalized approach is fashion remanufacturing. This further illuminates the under-
noticed when developing procedures for disassembly and reas- standing of organizing within firm coordination between processes/
sembly, compared to rule-of-thumb experimentation as normally tasks, for improving scale.
conducted for generating design/development concepts in redesign
or upcycling. Once the heuristic product design development 7.2. Practical implications
method has been established, simple “rulebooks” are used to
routinize the process, e.g. to determine the number of different European Environment Agency (2019) clearly highlights that
panels to be used, and their combination, for constructing “snakes” lack of scalability in circular operations as a major reason for the
for “sewn from scratch” products. Such formalization also gener- slow transition to European textile circular economy as imple-
ates low specificity of the remanufacturing skillset across different mentation often stops at small-scale experiments and pilots due to
9
R. Pal, Y. Samie and A. Chizaryfard Journal of Cleaner Production 286 (2021) 125498

not overcoming the scalability challenges. In light to this, by extends beyond just producing economic value but also environ-
building on process-level scalability in fashion remanufacturing mental, social and image values. Future work can concentrate on
such circular business operations could be made viable economi- studying how these multi-dimensional value types can be generated
cally, thus more mainstream. More specifically, systematic evalua- and scale-up in fashion remanufacturing business models, beyond
tion of product-process groupings and structures, along with key economic ones.
sourcing and operational conditions (as shown in Table 1) can be
beneficial to evaluate process-level challenges for enterprises un-
CRediT authorship contribution statement
dertaking fashion remanufacturing within the broader context of
circular economy. The suggested solutions in this paper, in terms of
Rudrajeet Pal: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing, Su-
how to lower interdependence between disassembly and reas-
pervision, Funding acquisition, Project administration. Yasaman
sembly, can be useful as a guidance for devising solutions to over-
Samie: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis. Arma-
come these challenges in fashion remanufacturing, and improve
ghan Chizayfard: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal
scalability.
analysis.

7.3. Limitations and scope for future research

Declaration of competing interest
Scope for future research stems out of the limitations of this
paper. Firstly, overall scalability potential of fashion remanufacturing The authors declare that they have no known competing
depends not only on mitigating process-level challenges, as has been financial interests or personal relationships that could have
solely addressed in this paper, but is equally dependent on devising appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
solutions at both system level (e.g. related to business model,
product design, marketing) and industry level (e.g. customer pref-
Acknowledgements
erence, technological adoption) (Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., 2018).
Future research on scalability of fashion remanufacturing can create
The authors would like to thank the Region of West Sweden,
more holistic, three-level understanding of scalability solutions. In
Environmental Board and Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Stif-
particular, from the system perspective that is largely influenced by
telse (P18-0057) for financing the research for this paper.
business models, future research can concentrate on exploring
scaling logics for remanufacturing, in terms of strategies, activities
and resources. Secondly, our paper addresses scale entirely from an Appendix 1. Detailed SLR findings
economic perspective, i.e. conjoined with the notion of volume and
growth. Remanufacturing, within the circular economy context,

Remanufacturing Process-level remanufacturing Related evidences in fashion Remanufacturing Prescribed solutions evident Related evidences of
process-level challenge challenges from SLR remanufacturing from SLR process-level from SLR solutions prescribed in
categories (based on challenge fashion
Kurilova-Palisaitiene categories remanufacturing
et al., 2018) hindering context
scalability (for
further case study
exploration)

Core-related
Unreliability of returns and
Variability of the timing, Sourcing of input
Internal coordination (e.g.
Building
Unpredictability in forecasts (i.e. in terms of quantity and quality of material-related vertical integration), collaborative
incoming core in variety, uncertainty, incoming materials Increasing component networks
terms of quantity, dynamics, size) (Casper and (Dissanayake and Sinha, specificity and standardize (Dissanayake and
quality, variability, Sundin, 2018) 2015; Keith and Silies, 2015; operations (Kalverkamp and Sinha, 2015)
and timing (lack of
Supply shortage (Golinska- Han et al., 2017; Singh et al., Raabe, 2018; Kurilova-
proper acquisition Dawson et al., 2015; 2019) Palisaitiene et al., 2018)
and management) Kalverkamp and Raabe, 2018)
Diverse supply sources and

Fluctuating demand and networks (Golinska-Dawson
availability (Priyono and et al., 2015; Kurilova-
Idris, 2018) Palisaitiene et al., 2018)

Incoming quantity/recovery
uncertainty, supply-demand
mismatch (Lage and Godinho,
2016; Oh and Behdad, 2017;
Zhang et al., 2018)

Stochastic returns (Li et al.,
2015)
Operations-related
Random operation time (Li
Time-consuming processes Process throughput
Continuing qualification,
Using modular
Unpredictable and long et al., 2019) (Singh et al., 2019) time-related Early engagement with NPD manufacturing
processing and
Random lead/throughput
Long lead time (Han et al., Skillset (Casper and Sundin, 2018) methods (Han et al.,
waiting times time (Golinska-Dawson et al., 2017) requirement-
Automated disassembly 2017)
2015)
Labour-intensive related technology (Franke et al.,
Centralized role of

High manual work (Seitz and (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2006) designer-maker; Cre-
Wells, 2006) 2015) ative capacity and
thinking
(Dissanayake and

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(continued )

Remanufacturing Process-level remanufacturing Related evidences in fashion Remanufacturing Prescribed solutions evident Related evidences of
process-level challenge challenges from SLR remanufacturing from SLR process-level from SLR solutions prescribed in
categories (based on challenge fashion
Kurilova-Palisaitiene categories remanufacturing
et al., 2018) hindering context
scalability (for
further case study
exploration)

Sinha, 2015; Han

et al., 2017)

Process technologies,
e.g. pattern cutting
software
(Dissanayake and
Sinha, 2015)
Operations-related
Job shop scheduling
Variability in processing lead Process throughput
Recovery route selection and
Using modular
Unreliability in complexity, random time resulting in difficulty in time-related resource dispatching (Li manufacturing
remanufacturing operation times, high capacity planning and Skillset et al., 2019) methods (Han et al.,
process sequence & variability in processing times scheduling (Dissanayake and requirement-
Aggregate capacity planning 2017)
capacity, and stochastic routings (Lage Sinha, 2015) related & scheduling (Lage and
Centralized role of
remanufacturing and Godinho, 2016; Zhang
Lack of required skillset Godinho, 2016) designer-maker; Cre-
scheduling & et al., 2018; Li et al., 2019) (Dissanayake and Sinha,
Optimal line design, dynamic ative capacity and
planning
Low reliability (Jiang et al., 2015) facility layout (Li et al., 2015; thinking
2016) Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., (Dissanayake and

Lack of knowledge and skill in 2018; Kwak, 2018) Sinha, 2015; Han
monitoring product-process
Step-by-step visual tools for et al., 2017)
reliability (Lie et al., 2018; creating a Knowledge
Process technologies,
Priyono and Idris, 2018) support system, Standard e.g. pattern cutting

Inability to level production, instructions/checklists (Lie software
low task standardization et al., 2018; Kurilova- (Dissanayake and
(Priyono and Idris, 2018) Palisaitiene et al., 2018) Sinha, 2015)

Lack of capacity planning
Technology-enabled data
(Franke et al., 2006) capturing/monitoring
(Zhang et al., 2018)
Operations-related
High minimum inventory Not explicitly mentioned as a X
Optimize buffer allocation by Not explicitly men-
High level of inventory level (Seitz and Wells, 2006; challenge for fashion maximizing throughput rate tioned for fashion
Casper and Sundin, 2018) remanufacturing and minimizing work in remanufacturing
progress (Su et al., 2017;
Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al.,
2018)

Better forecasting (Lage and
Godinho, 2016)
Product quality-
Unclear/uncontrollable
Variability of the quality of Sourcing of input
Integrated quality evaluation
Process technologies,
related quality (Li et al., 2015; Casper incoming materials material-related (Jiang et al., 2016) e.g. pattern cutting
Product reliability and and Sundin, 2018) (Dissanayake and Sinha, Skillset
Standard operations, softwares
safety issues
Uncertain quality (Su et al., 2015; Keith and Silies, 2015; requirement- instructions and checklists (Dissanayake and
2017) Singh et al., 2019) related (Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al., Sinha, 2015)

Lack of knowledge and skill in
Lack of required skillset 2018)
Different making
monitoring quality (Lie et al., (Singh et al., 2019)
Automated disassembly strategies and
2018) technology (Franke et al., techniques, i.e. design

Less standardized quality 2006) solutions (Keith and
control/inspection (Priyono
Employee cross-training Silies, 2015)
and Idris, 2018) (Kurilova-Palisaitiene et al.,
2018)
Cost-related
Low process reliability
Design-led, time consuming Process throughput
Integrated quality evaluation
Well-planned
Cost fluctuations due to resulting in high production resulting in high time-related during remanufacturing to production schedules
process uncertainty; remanufacturing cost (Jiang price and lack of economies of improve reliability at low (Han et al., 2017)
Underdeveloped KPIs et al., 2016) scale (Han et al., 2017; Singh cost (Jiang et al., 2016)
Flexibility and
objectives
Lack of process organization et al., 2019)
Automated disassembly technique for design
resulting in low economies of technology (Franke et al., and pattern cutting
scale (Golinska-Dawson et al., 2006) allowing waste
2015) minimization (Keith
and Silies, 2015; Han
et al., 2017)
Upgradability-related
Product value depreciation Technology/technique is a key X
Cost-benefit for inventory Solutions are more
Lack of evaluation of due to technology enabler (Han et al., 2017; Singh holding for remanufacturing market awareness and
customer’s demand obsolescence (Oh and Behdad, et al., 2019), but lack of vs. recycling, over time (Oh pricing related.
and requirement; 2017) technology is not considered a and Behdad, 2017)
Apply upgrade
Lack of disassembly challenge to upgrade, as the role
strategy linked to technology (Priyono and of creative labour is crucial.
revenue generation Idris, 2018)

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