Remanufacturing of electric vehicles: Challenges in production planning and control

Abstract Due to the conceptual degrees of freedom in their product structure, electric vehicles offer high potential for remanufacturing-oriented product design. Remanufacturing as one fundamental element of a circular economy is characterized by specific challenges caused by uncertain information about the condition of the returning product. By means of a standardized survey within the remanufacturing industry, the occurrence of uncertainties is confirmed and put into relation with challenges in the production planning and control (PPC) of remanufacturing operations. Furthermore, it is shown that strategies to deal with uncertainties currently used cause major inefficiencies that hinder economic remanufacturing of complex products like electric vehicles. Based on the result of the survey the requirements for a remanufacturing specific PPC system are derived from a practitioner’s point of view.