A systematic approach to disassembly line design

The increasing importance of a product's relationship and effects on the environment has prompted active research in demanufacturing systems. A disassembly process is a critically important part of a demanufacturing system. Its design and improvement is of great significance to achieve the best use of resources (labor, money and time). This paper addresses the disassembly line-balancing problem. An algorithm is developed to facilitate the disassembly line design and optimization, which dynamically configures a large system into many disassembly lines, based on system status and demand sources, guarantees the line balance and efficiency. An example is given to illustrate this methodology.