New opportunities from old products

Looking for ways to keep the cost of materials low? In an article in the Spring 2009 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review, John A. Pearce II discusses the opportunities represented by product reconstruction —  which can take the form of recycling, refurbishing or remanufacturing.

While Pearce notes that such product reconstruction is not appropriate for every company, he reports that product-reconstruction activities tend to have higher average profit margins than typical manufacturing processes. What’s more, Pearce points out that legislative trends may favor product reconstruction going forward — as some governments start to place restrictions on certain kinds of waste disposal or to promote the purchase of reconstructed products.