An empirical investigation of value-added product recovery activities in SMEs using multiple case studies of OEMs and independent remanufacturers

This paper presents an empirical study of certain features of the practices and management of value recovery processes that follow the acquisition of used products. The research focuses on the implementation of refurbishing and remanufacturing in small and medium enterprises. Twelve cases have been examined in detail, representing both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent remanufacturers (IRs), with different products and nature of operations. The analysis indicates that the factors having the strongest influence on the choice of value-added product recovery activities (PRA) at the OEMs are the type, features, and quality of the returned products, along with the consumer perceptions for recovered products, while the main factor influencing the choice of PRA for IRs is market demand for recovered products. Furthermore, willingness to pay for a recovered product constitutes the basic factor defining the pricing policy for recovered products. The findings of the research also include measurements of important quantifiable parameters of refurbishing and remanufacturing, such as the actual costs and prices expressed as fractions of the respective values for new products.