From Data to Value: Overcoming Challenges in Remanufacturing Transparency

Abdelrahman Abdalla is a doctoral candidate and researcher in the Manufacturing Technology and Production Systems lab at Politecnico di Milano, Italy’s leading technical university. He earned his master’s degree in advanced manufacturing from Politecnico and has since been part of the De- and Re-Manufacturing for Circular Economy research group.

He has also contributed to several European projects focusing on smart and sustainable manufacturing, with a particular emphasis on digitalization as a key enabler of the circular economy. His PhD research explores the creation of circular business cases in the manufacturing context using the emerging Digital Product Passport concept.

Jörg Drees, Managing Director and Co-Founder, iFAKT GmbH

Education: Mechanical Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Université de Bordeaux, and Esslingen University of Applied Sciences
Professional Experience: Began career at Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), Stuttgart, focusing on digital mapping of product and production development and simulation of value chains. Worked as a graduate student in an interdisciplinary team planning smart production systems.
iFAKT GmbH: Co-founded iFAKT GmbH, leading numerous consulting projects in the automotive, aviation, supplier, mechanical, and plant engineering industries. Spearheaded the development and market scaling of POLARIS, iFAKT's proprietary solution. Established the Research and Technology Department in 2021, focusing on applied research and publicly funded projects in Industry 4.0, circular economy, corporate resilience, and production optimization. Continuously integrating new technologies, functionalities, and approaches into iFAKT's software solutions.
Personal Statement: Passionate about leveraging data and algorithms to enhance decision-making processes and drive innovation in production and value chain optimization.

Markus Wagner (M), Innovation-Lead at Circular Economy Solutions GmbH (C-ECO), Germany. 

Markus Wagner has a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from University of Karlsruhe. He looks back to more than 20 years of experience in different positions in logistics, IT and marketing in the international automotive industry. Since 15 years, he is developing business-processes and IT-systems for industrial remanufacturing and used-parts management. In his current assignment, Markus leads and contributes to international research projects innovating on implementation of circular economy business models. With this background, he also consults companies on implementing circular business-models and contributes to standardization in ISO and DIN.

Jan Koller heads the research team “Remanufacturing Operations and
Management” at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and
Automation IPA in Bayreuth since 2022. He holds a doctorate from the Faculty of
Engineering at the University of Bayreuth and deals with the challenges of
remanufacturing in national and international research and industrial projects. He spearheaded the development of the RemanLab, a learning factory showcasing sustainable production methods.

Holds a dual Master's degree in Sustainable Management and Entrepreneurship/Innovation Management from UCLouvain. She co-authored a thesis as part of an interdisciplinary team focused on designing a closed-loop supply chain for RFID identification cards. The project was acquired and implemented by one of Belgium's leading event organizers.

Joined Car Parts Industries (part of Borg Automotive Group) over two years ago and has been part of the New Business Development department. The department focuses on innovation and research within the company including assessment and introduction of emerging technologies as well as diversification strategies and new product development.