The manufacturing sector in transition

The manufacturing sector is undergoing an important transition due to changes in the sustainability related regulation and technological advances. The green transition, the advent of circular economy, and current advances in digital technologies such as additive manufacturing and artificial intelligence, are examples of current trends affecting the sector.

The green transition is driven by a plethora of regulatory actions, such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR), (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2024), the Waste Framework Directive (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2007), the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2000) and others.

Some companies see this as a competitive disadvantage due to a potential need for investments and rise in operational costs. There are also companies that regard the green transition as an opportunity to create innovative business models, products and technologies for the manufacturing sector.

This article focuses on describing the key concepts and technological processes related to the green transition in the manufacturing sector and offers insights into how companies could turn it into a source of growth and innovation.

Reverse engineering in the manufacturing sector

Reverse engineering is an important technology in the green transition of manufacturing sector. It is also a key enabler and source of innovations related to the green transition. A basic understanding of reverse engineering is vital to anyone leading the change in the manufacturing sector.

Reverse engineering in the manufacturing industry is the process of examining, measuring, and deconstructing a physical product to understand its design, geometry, materials, and functionality, with the goal of reproducing, improving, or digitally modelling a part when the original design documentation is unavailable (Raja and Fernandez 2007).

The value of reverse engineering is maximised when an original part is missing, damaged, or when its reproduction is so expensive that reverse engineering becomes the only available option. Reverse engineering is typically used when either replicating the designs of existing parts or creating functional replacements. Typical cases where reverse engineering is applied are the repair or replacing of broken structures and correcting inaccuracies in digital models (Kumar et al. 2013).

Reverse engineering has acquired high importance in manufacturing industries where products are durable, modular, material intensive, and recoverable at end of life. Examples of such industries are the automotive and aviation industries, the industry of electrical and electronic equipment such as printers and computers, and industrial machinery and heavy equipment (Kumar et al. 2013).

The modernization of out-of-dated digital models and digitizing when digital models do not exist at all are typical cases where reverse engineering is applied. The aviation sector, for instance, faces rapid technological advancements and an ever-increasing need for extensive digital documentation. Leading aerospace manufacturers, such as Airbus, have adopted reverse engineering and scan-to-CAD techniques to digitise spare part inventories and to convert obsolete or incomplete design data into modern CAD formats (Fu 2008).

Recent studies also emphasize the growing importance of integrating reverse engineering with 3D scanning, CAD modelling, and additive manufacturing technologies. Research conducted by Tarasiuk and Dragun (2025) demonstrates that reverse engineering supported by structured-light 3D scanning enables the rapid reconstruction of technical components and the creation of digital prototypes, particularly in situations where technical documentation is unavailable.

Their study highlights that the combination of reverse engineering and 3D printing can significantly support product development, prototyping, and spare-part reproduction within the context of Industry 4.0. At the same time, the authors point out that the effectiveness of reverse engineering strongly depends on the precision of scanning technologies, the quality of CAD software, and the appropriate selection of manufacturing tools, especially when reproducing geometrically complex components such as threaded mechanical parts.

Pawłowicz et al. (2024) showed that reverse engineering combined with 3D laser scanning enables the creation of accurate digital twins of historical buildings, allowing engineers to analyse structural deformations, cracks, and damage in a non-invasive manner. The authors emphasize that point-cloud data obtained through laser scanning significantly improves the accuracy and efficiency of technical inspections compared to conventional manual measurements. Their findings indicate that reverse engineering technologies not only support manufacturing and prototyping, but also contribute to modern diagnostic and maintenance practices in civil engineering and heritage preservation.

Reverse engineering and the circular economy

The relation of reverse engineering to circular economy is strong. The aim of circular economy is to extend the life cycle of a product by processes such as reuse, remanufacturing, repair, refurbishment and recycling. Reverse engineering provides a methodology for these.

There are three business models for performing remanufacturing when a product is damaged, worn out, or for some other reason cannot be used any more (Fitzsimons 2025).

• In the first business model, the original manufacturer of the product takes the product back – using reverse logistics – remanufactures it and sends it back to the customer. In the remanufacturing phase, if the original design of the module to be repaired is inaccessible, reverse engineering methods are used.
• In the second business model, the original manufacturer has a contract with the remanufacturer, and all products that will be remanufactured are handled by this third-party company. In this business model, the number of cases where there is no access to the original design documents and reverse engineering is needed, is most probably even greater than in the first business model.
• The last business model is a very challenging one. It involves an independent third party that remanufactures products from various manufacturing companies. In this case, reverse engineering is a very viable technology.

Recent studies underline the strong relationship between reverse engineering, additive manufacturing, and the circular economy. Chen (2022) argues that 3D printing technologies combined with reverse engineering can support the principles of ‘reduce’, ‘reuse’, and ‘recycle’ by extending product life cycles, reducing material consumption, and enabling the efficient reproduction of spare parts. The author highlights that reverse engineering supported by 3D scanning and digital modelling allows damaged or obsolete products to be reconstructed and repaired even when technical documentation is unavailable. Moreover, according to Chen additive manufacturing enables decentralized and distributed production systems, reducing transportation costs, waste generation, and carbon emissions. These technologies therefore play an increasingly important role in sustainable manufacturing and Industry 4.0 strategies.

Obstacles for the green transition in the manufacturing sector

Typical obstacles of the green transition in the manufacturing sector are those that are common in all transitions and that are widely addressed in the literature on change management in organizations. These include the lack of skills and knowledge of the staff, fear of job loss and organisational changes. From the management perspective, typical obstacles are the fear of a competitive disadvantage due to high capital and knowledge investments, a possible rise in operational costs and disruptions in production (Braff 2026).

While the above-mentioned obstacles are typical in virtually any transformation, there are some specifics related to the green transition, and especially to reverse engineering and circular economy. Reverse engineering for remanufacturing requires advanced technical skills and investments into often expensive software and hardware. On a very high level, the workflow typically consists of four parts:

1. 3D scanning using techniques such as laser scanning or photogrammetry
2. Geometry reconstruction aiming to construct a CAD model
3. Analysis of the materials and the manufacturing method
4. Redesign or remanufacturing of the product

All the four abovementioned parts require considerable investments into human capital, software and other equipment if reverse engineering has not been in place in the company prior to the green transition (Raja and Fernandez 2007).

Regarding the challenges related to the adoption of new business models enabling circular economy, there are a couple of issues to consider in addition to the generic change management issues. The adoption of circular economy in a manufacturing company may involve a shift of focus from traditional manufacturing into service business. If the manufacturing company decides to take back damaged, worn out or otherwise unusable products, remanufacture them and send them back to the customer, a business model involving maintenance of the product may be more viable to the company than just selling the product. This service-oriented business model will most probably involve the development of predictive maintenance and reverse logistics, among others. These will again demand significant investments.

The green transition as a driver for innovations in the manufacturing sector

The green transition offers many possibilities for innovations in the manufacturing sector. Some of them originate from the reverse engineering process and some from the circular economy business model.

During the reverse engineering process, new, enhanced products may emerge as engineers study and document the existing design. Based on the newly created design documents, it will be possible to redesign the product, create new features or replace existing materials with enhanced ones, among others. An additional benefit of the reverse engineering process is increased efficiency through better access to up-to-date digital models. Product development life cycles can be shortened as instead of starting from scratch, engineers can build upon existing designs (Raja and Fernandez 2007).

In addition to the opportunities created by the reverse engineering process, also circular economy- based business models offer new opportunities for innovation. Manufacturers may gain a competitive advantage as production costs may decrease due to lower material costs caused by increased reuse, remanufacturing, repair and recycling. They may also develop a completely new business model when they start to provide the product as a service that includes maintenance instead of just the product itself.

Preparation for the green transition

The manufacturing sector is experiencing rapid changes both due to regulatory changes related to sustainability and due to technological advancements in digital technologies. Adequate and up-to-date knowledge and skills of employees and leaders are vital in times of rapid change.

The CircleREdu: Circular Economy and Reverse Engineering Education for the Green Transition project offers a multidisciplinary e-learning course for anyone wishing to learn more on the topic. It is especially suited for future and current engineers, business specialists and leaders in business transformation, working in the manufacturing sector.

The course has four independent modules, and it focuses on the core concepts of circular economy, reverse engineering and change management. The modules are:

1. Green skills for the circular economy
2. Tools and technologies for reverse engineering
3. Change management for the green transition
4. Practical cases from the manufacturing sector

The module on green skills includes digital tools on life cycle assessments (LCA), the reverse engineering module also talks about current topics such as additive manufacturing and how AI technologies may be leveraged in creating 3D models, and the change management module addresses typical barriers to implementing the green transition and underlines the green transition as a driver for innovations.

The multidisciplinary nature of the green transition in manufacturing is demonstrated in the study module on practical business cases that are solved by the students in the course. They involve technical reverse engineering and digital skills, business skills related to innovation and business models, as well as leadership skills.

The CircleRedu course will be ready for piloting in the fall term 2026. We are currently welcoming lectures and companies willing to pilot it. After piloting, the course will be finalized based on the feedback. The CircleRedu course will be publicly available for anyone by the end of the year 2027.

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