RETHINK - SF research project

The „RETHINK“ project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF), focussed on sustainability, resource conservation and independence from supply bottlenecks. Together with the Institute for Machine Tools & Industrial Management (iwb) the TU Munich, our sister company ITQ and the water meter manufacturer Lorenz remanufacturing for the industrial circular economy in SMEs using existing systems. The industrial remanufacturing and reuse of old parts reduces environmental pollution and can save up to 80% in raw materials. Dependence on suppliers that jeopardises production, as was evident during the first lockdown of the pandemic, can be reduced and become less important. A topic with a future, topicality and great potential! The research partners set themselves the goal of developing a standardised process model for evaluating the systems in place at SMEs. The model enables entrepreneurs to easily assess which previously used systems can continue to be used for remanufacturing in production. This knowledge facilitates a decision in favour of sustainability and resource conservation.

The project was organised by the Karlsruhe Project Management Agency (PTKA) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and ran until the end of August 2023.