Multi-agent framework for distributed leasing- based injection mould remanufacturing

The last few decades have seen a significant improvement in the quality of life through mass production and advanced technologies. However, this has led to a sharp increase in the strain on the environment in the meantime because though the phenomenon of 268industrialisation increases the quality of life for many, the costs of supporting it include the mass consumption of materials and energy, which not only pushes the exploitation of natural resources and the capability of biosphere to the limit but also directly leads to the mass disposal of retired products as waste when they do not generate any value for users. Consequently, the traditional ways of business thinking, which is through sell/purchase and then ‘forget’, meaning that the seller’s responsibility ends at the point of sale, are questioned. There is a need to assess both the economic and environmental values and impacts of business decisions through identification of the ‘whole of the life’ costs and services associated with the products sold/leased [1,2].