## 1 Introduction  
Remanufacturing is one of the key elements in a circular economy, aiming to restore full or partial value of end-of-use (EoU) products to a 'like new' or refurbished condition through processes such as disassembly, cleaning, repair, component replacement, and reassembly [1, 2]. As depicted in Figure 1, through extending the life cycles of products by restoring their values to a near-new condition and keeping the resources in a closed loop as long as possible, remanufacturing conserves valuable resources and reduces the environmental footprint associated with the extraction, processing, and transportation of raw materials for creating brand new products, thereby enhancing sustainability [3, 4]. The benefits of remanufacturing are substantial, in terms of resource preservation [5, 6], reduced energy intensity [7], lower environmental impact [8], and notable economic gains [9],owing to significant reduction in the use of new materials, water, and other energy sources required for traditional manufacturing processes [10; 11; 12; 13]. Among several strategic decisions, in terms of reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, or disposal, as shown in Figure 1, remanufacturing is crucial for enhancing manufacturing sustainability, preserving the value of products, and fostering techno-economic benefits. However, the conceptualization and implementation of remanufacturing involves several significant challenges. First, the inherent uncertainty in product condition and mechanical functionality arises from the duration and environment of the product's use, as well as the consumer's independent decision to return it. [PERSON] et al. highlighted that uncertainties regarding the timing, quantity, and condition of materials recovered from cores are critical factors complicating decision-making in remanufacturing [15]. Factors such as component condition, disassembly sequence, and market values are crucial in trading off between sustainability and profitability [16]. Additionally, the remanufacturing process necessitates an effective reverse logistics system to facilitate the acquisition of cores from the market. The complexity of adapting to customer behaviors and incentives for participating in reverse logistics further complicates the coordination of various stages. This necessitates enhanced data visibility in areas such as product quality, material flow, energy flow, shopfloor operations, and inventory management [17; 18]. Therefore, efficient tracking of products and usage information across the life cycle are vital for optimizing remanufacturing efforts [12; 19]. The heterogeneous quality conditions of returned products require customized production and planning strategies during remanufacturing and associated procedures. Variability in core conditions leads to fluctuating processing times, different reconditioning paths, variable inventory control and resource allocation, and complex re-entrant routings [20; 21], creating a dynamic and challenging operational environment [20]. Accordingly, these variations demand extensive manual operation [22], involving core assessment, operation sequencing, and selection of disassembly and reconditioning techniques. The complexity of planning the remanufacturing process requires a deep knowledge of product design, failure modes, and production capabilities [23]. A study on the remanufacturing procedure of EoU returned products indicated that grading cores into different quality classes by involving humans can enhance profitability by only up to 4% [24]. To address the above-mentioned challenges, thereby improving remanufacturing efficiency and overall plant profits, recent advancements have introduced automation and HRC technologies that facilitate the adaptation of processes to varying core conditions. This includes incorporating advanced  
Figure 1: Value recovery over time in a product’s life cycle (adapted from [14]). in-line/in situ inspection technologies, collaborative robots, decision support systems, and automated disassembly planning tools [1].