Reverse manufacturing is basically synonymous with reverse engineering, where someone deconstructs and analyzes a product or system to reveal how it was made or works. While software can be reverse-engineered, reverse manufacturing is more likely to refer to a hardware component or assembly.
The reverse manufacturing process includes disassembling the product into its parts and measuring the parts’ dimensions, for which 3D laser scanning can help. Next comes creating 3D CAD models of the parts, where the engineer can make modifications. Finally, engineers can manufacture the parts from their 3D models using 3D printing or other methods.