Design

Business Case

Brand reputation

Products with longer lifespans, easier repairs and available spare parts improve customer experience, increasing satisfaction and long‑term loyalty.

Financial resilience

Procuring products designed for durability and repairability can reduce replacement frequency, lower warranty costs and cut total cost of ownership when the full costs of disposal, procurement administration and supply chain disruption from frequent reordering are accounted for. While lower-cost, shorter-lifespan alternatives may appear more economical on a per-unit basis, a comprehensive TCO analysis that includes disposal costs, environmental liabilities and the administrative burden of repeated procurement cycles often favors durable, repairable products.

Innovation and adaptability

Spare part availability and repair-friendly design create new revenue streams through aftermarket services, refurbishment and remanufacturing, while extending the commercial life of procured products.

Operational continuity

Designing for disassembly enables material recovery at end of life, reducing future dependency on virgin material purchases and creating a secondary material supply that the organization controls.

Strategy & Planning

Assessment

Initial Action

Evaluate current product portfolio to identify priority products where durability, repairability and material recovery offer the greatest cost and environmental benefit.

Intermediate Progress

Work with design team and strategy teams to identify opportunities for more circular materials, eliminate waste through product design and sourced material requirements and eliminate problematic or unnecessary packaging through redesign and innovation and embed circularity into the broader business model.

Advanced Practice

Conduct lifecycle assessments of priority products to quantify the cost and environmental impact of design improvements in durability, repairability and material recovery, including scenario modeling to optimize total lifecycle impact.

Policy

Initial Action

Define baseline requirements for durability testing and repairability information for priority products.

Intermediate Progress

Work with design team to establish design-for-circularity guidelines covering durability, repairability, disassembly and material recovery for all new product development.

Advanced Practice

Establish requirements for suppliers have design‑for‑reuse, design‑for‑upgrade, durability and repairability standards supported by certification or evidence, ensuring products can be updated rather than replaced as mandatory for all major purchases.

Targets

Initial Action

Set targets for percentage of priority product categories with durability and repairability specifications defined.

Intermediate Progress

Set targets for percentage of new products meeting design-for-circularity guidelines.

Advanced Practice

Set targets for percentage of all procured products meeting durability and repairability standards.

Supplier Selection

Screening

Initial Action

Add bid questions that request durability test results, expected lifetime, repair documentation, availability of spare parts and repair instructions and warranty terms for procured products.

Intermediate Progress

Request detailed evidence of product durability and repairability, including lifespan testing results, spare part programs and repair service capability.

Advanced Practice

Require third-party durability testing results as a prerequisite to apply for RFP.

Selection

Initial Action

Include a scoring factor for repairability such as availability of spare parts and repair instructions.

Intermediate Progress

Score bids using defined durability and repairability criteria, allocating points for suppliers demonstrating superior product lifespan, spare part availability and repair service capability.

Advanced Practice

Select suppliers demonstrating independently verified durability performance, design-for-disassembly capability, remanufacturing capacity or certified repair networks.

Contracts

Initial Action

Include contractual clauses requiring provision of warranty for procured products.

Intermediate Progress

Include contract terms that require availability of spare parts for a defined period, with availability of disassembly instructions and documentation of material separation or minimum guaranteed product lifespan for priority categories.

Advanced Practice

Require suppliers to guarantee minimum product lifespans, maintain spare part availability for defined periods and accept take back responsibilities at end of life (as applicable per industry).

Supplier Engagement

Goal Setting

Initial Action

Communicate expectations on product durability, repairability, lifespan and design for disassembly to suppliers and establish joint action plans for improvement in priority categories, establishing clear communication channels for repair and refurbishment requests.

Intermediate Progress

Set specific, time-bound improvement targets with suppliers on product lifespan extension, warranty cost reduction, spare part availability timelines, design-for-disassembly implementation and refurbishment or remanufacturing readiness.

Advanced Practice

Set goals with Tier 1 suppliers on cascading design-for-circularity requirements to their own suppliers and establishing multi-year targets for product lifespan improvement, refurbishment rates and remanufacturing output.

Capacity Building

Initial Action

Provide guidance and basic training to suppliers on design-for-durability, design-for-repair, design-for-disassembly and product lifespan extension principles; and share resources on relevant standards and best practices.

Intermediate Progress

Develop a supplier training program on design for repair, disassembly, refurbishment and remanufacturing methods, including labeling and documentation standards for spare parts, materials and disassembly steps.

Advanced Practice

Provide advanced training to suppliers on lifecycle assessment, design for disassembly, refurbishment and remanufacturing techniques to support circular product development across their own supply chains.

Data

Initial Action

Request baseline data from suppliers on product expected lifespans, warranty claim rates, spare part availability, repair documentation, disassembly instructions and refurbishment or remanufacturing capabilities.

Intermediate Progress

Support suppliers in developing structured tracking systems for product lifespan data, warranty claims, repair frequency, repair time, repair cost, spare part demand, refurbishment volumes and remanufacturing output.

Advanced Practice

Work with suppliers to develop integrated product lifecycle data systems capturing lifespan performance, repair rates, refurbishment volumes, remanufacturing output and material recovery outcomes across the supply chain.

Advisory

Initial Action

Provide guidance to suppliers on improving product durability, implementing repair-friendly design and incorporating design-for-disassembly to enable refurbishment and material recovery.

Intermediate Progress

Consult and work with suppliers on redesigning products for improved durability, ease of repair, disassembly for material recovery and refurbishment or remanufacturing at end of life.

Advanced Practice

Consult and work with suppliers on embedding design-for-circularity into their own product development and procurement practices, including durability, repairability, disassembly, refurbishment and remanufacturing requirements.

Financial Support

Initial Action

Fund supplier access to durability testing resources, design-for-repair training and disassembly/remanufacturing feasibility assessments.

Intermediate Progress

Provide commercial incentives to suppliers for improvements in product durability, repairability and remanufacturing capability, such as price, volume, duration and preferred supplier status.

Advanced Practice

Co-invest with suppliers in remanufacturing and refurbishment infrastructure.

Audits

Initial Action

Require suppliers to complete self-assessment questionnaires on product durability, repairability, spare part availability, design-for-disassembly practices and refurbishment or remanufacturing capability.

Intermediate Progress

Conduct on-site supplier audits or support independent verification of circular‑design performance, including durability, repairability, teardown testing and circular design practices, including verification of lifespan testing, spare part programs, repair documentation quality, disassembly specifications and refurbishment or remanufacturing processes.

Advanced Practice

Require and support strategic suppliers to conduct their own durability, repairability and circular design audits across their supply chains and share findings.

Project Partnerships & Innovation

Initial Action

Pilot repair / refurbished component supply and remanufactured product programs for non-safety-critical parts and track performance.

Intermediate Progress

Scale successful pilots into operational refurbished component supply and remanufactured product programs with suppliers.

Advanced Practice

Lead industry collaborations with suppliers, industry peers and research institutions to develop standardized design-for-disassembly protocols and shared remanufacturing infrastructure that enable circular product systems at scale across the sector.

Continuous Improvement

Metrics

Initial Action

Track the following:

  • percentage of priority products with durability and repairability specifications
  • baseline product lifespan data for key categories
  • warranty claim rates
  • actual product lifespans vs. expected lifespans
Intermediate Progress

Track progress indicators such as:

  • product lifespan improvements year over year
  • spare part availability and fill rates
  • total cost of ownership including all repairs
  • share of spend on reused/refurbished/remanufactured goods
  • average asset useful life for key material categories
  • time‑to‑repair and cost‑of‑repair
Advanced Practice

Track indicators such as:

  • revenue from refurbishment and remanufacturing activities
  • material recovery rates from end-of-life products

Scorecards

Initial Action

Introduce basic durability and repairability criteria into supplier evaluation forms covering product lifespan data, spare part availability, repair documentation status and durability improvement targets.

Intermediate Progress

Integrate durability and repairability KPIs into supplier scorecards and quarterly business reviews and require corrective action plans for suppliers with poor product lifespan or repair performance.

Advanced Practice

Weigh durability and repairability performance in supplier scorecards, with top performers receiving preferential weighting in tenders and bottom performers required to submit improvement plans.

Impact Verification

Initial Action

Gather feedback from suppliers on whether design-for-circularity requirements are leading to measurable changes in product design decisions and identify barriers to adoption.

Intermediate Progress

Assess whether supplier engagement initiatives are delivering measurable improvements in product lifespan and total cost of ownership.

Advanced Practice

Measure total cost of ownership improvements attributable to design-for-circularity initiatives.

Sources consulted

Materials & Inputs Waste