Circular Economy Podcast - Stephen Fitzpatrick: remanufacturing as a strategic capability

In this podcast episode, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Director of the Digital Factory at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and the ReMake Value Retention Centre (RVRC), shares his perspective on the role of digital technologies in supporting remanufacturing and circular economy practices in high-integrity sectors.

Stephen discusses how sectors such as aerospace, automotive, nuclear and wind face unique challenges due to strict safety, reliability and performance requirements, and why value retention approaches must be designed with these constraints in mind.

Key themes explored in the episode include:

• How digital manufacturing and data can support remanufacturing and extend product life

• The importance of keeping components at their highest value in high-integrity applications

• Designing and manufacturing new products in ways that optimise future circular opportunities

• The multidisciplinary capabilities needed to deliver value retention at scale, spanning digital manufacturing, design engineering, additive and repair manufacturing, robotics and metrology