End-of-Life product quality management for efficient design of disassembly lines under uncertainty

Abstract

The design of a disassembly line is a long-term investment. Therefore, it is important to optimise its performance and demonstrate its financial viability. The design process must consider the unique End-of-Life product characteristics and disassembly operation particularities. These peculiarities are mainly expressed by uncertainty in post-consumer products quality, variability of task processing times and presence of hazardous material. To achieve efficient disassembly line design, efficient decision-making tools are needed. The purpose of this work is to propose such a tool. The objective is to efficiently design a disassembly line, as a disassembly system, that provides optimal income and takes into account Enf-of-Life (EoL) product quality uncertainty and task processing times variability. The proposed tool allows the decision-maker to select the optimal disassembly process and depth while assigning retained tasks to the line workstations. Hazardous material of EoL products is handled and the designed line guarantees a certain level of service set by the decision-maker. The product part revenue depends formally on its EoL state or quality. Several product examples from remanufacturing sectors in industry are utilised to demonstrate interest and relevance of the proposed decision-aiding tool in an industrial context.