Automation of disassembly processes and its information systems

The recycling of manufacturing products has become a major concern in the majority of industrialized countries. To be effective, this problem cannot be considered only in the ultimate stage of the life cycle of the product and must be more or less automated. The authors present an approach in which different degrees of automation are proposed. The recycling is also taken into account earlier, during the design stage, and they discuss the information flow needed. A generic recycling platform is presented, implementing the concept of "noble recycling" for manufactured products and taking into consideration collection, diagnosis, repair or disassembly, as well as its integration in a platform-network.