Multi-process routes based remanufacturability assessment and associated application on production decision

Abstract

Abstract Remanufacturing can restore the function of end of life (EoL) products as that of new products to realize waste utilization, which saves resources and reduces environmental pollution. So, remanufacturing is generally considered a promising way to foster cleaner production. Before an EoL product is recycled, its remanufacturability is first estimated to determine remanufacturing feasibility. Most researches on remanufacturability assessment (RA) are concentrated here, that evaluation of the whole machine or a certain type of product. However, after entering the remanufacturing system, the EoL product is disassembled into parts with various failure types and failure degree, of which the remanufacturability still need to be evaluated to determine their remanufacturing value. Currently, the research in this area are relatively lacking. In this paper, we provided a novel perspective to evaluate remanufacturability of parts based on multi-process routes, and further explored the application of RA in production decision-making. First, a RA model was established, which involves four key indicators, i.e., economic remanufacturability indicator (ERI), quality remanufacturability indicator (QRI), resource consumption indicator (RCI), and environmental emission indicator (EEI). Second, an integrated decision model was proposed with consideration of RA, and an improved genetic algorithm with a two-layer structure was designed to solve the optimal process plan and scheduling results. In the further case study of commercial engine remanufacturing, we evaluated the remanufacturability of parts and discussed the application of RA-based strategy in four production scenarios. Moreover, we compared RA-based strategy and quality grading strategy in real-life remanufacturing production. Results showed that multi-process routes based RA of parts can lead to more efficient and cleaner remanufacturing.