Günther Seliger

A Key Issue in Product Life Cycle: Disassembly

Abstract Incoming environmental legislation is expected to impose recycling activities on industrial and consumer product manufacturers. Disassembly of used products is needed in order to make recycling economically viable in the current state of the art of reprocessing technology, thus avoiding the future high disposal costs. This paper gives an overview of disassembly research at universities, research centers and industrial companies, pointing out ongoing topics and trends for future activities. Among them, major attention has been paid to basic technological development, product design (design for disassembly), process design (selection of disassembly strategy and automation level) and system design (configuration of manual and automated disassembly facilities, design of disassembly tools). It is also shown how the emerging life cycle concept can be fully exploited to develop suitable ways of dealing with information related to environmental protection and resource optimization. A result of the survey is that further development on disassembly of existing products (technology, planning at process and system level) is needed to allow future products to be designed with recycling considerations in mind.

Disassembly-Oriented Assessment Methodology to Support Design for Recycling

Summary This paper describes an assessment methodology to support product design for the “end-of-life” phase. It is based on the assessment of feasible options for disassembling a product and applying recycling processes to its components and subassemblies. The methodology balances the future effort to be invested in recycling processes with the future benefit regainable by reduction of dumping fees and sale of recovered materials, components and subassemblies. It identifies the optimal recycling strategy for a given product with respect to multiple economical and environmental objectives of the designer. The assessment aids the designer by allowing him to compare design alternatives and identify weak spots of the design. The methodology is illustrated by assessing alternative future scenarios for the recycling of a washing machine subassembly.

Systematic integration of design-for-recycling into product design

Abstract This paper presents an approach for incorporating recycling considerations into product design. The approach regards the recycling aspects of product design, different recycling processes and the product logistic support during the end-of-life stage. The concept of a recycling network is introduced which consists of the designer, consumers, recyclers and suppliers, allowing the effective exchange of information and handshaking for cooperation. Guidelines dedicated to design-for-recycling are presented to assist the designer to develop a recycling friendly product reflecting the objectives of all network partners. The approach is demonstrated by investigating current industrial product recyclability features and further improving them by applying designfor-recycling guidelines.

Sustainability in manufacturing: Recovery of resources in product and material cycles

Global Framework.- Life Cycle Engineering and Management.- Product Development.- Processes and Tools for Disassembly.- Planning for Remanufacturing and Recycling.- Enabling for Sustainability in Engineering.- Roadmap.

Approaches to sustainable manufacturing

Topics on sustainable manufacturing, use, environmentally friendly treatment and resource recovery are currently very important issues for governments and industries worldwide. Environmental regulations for technical products currently focus on recycling ratios and prohibition of toxic materials. The concept of creating more use-productivity with less resource consumption has considerable potential to a sustainable society. Hence, the objective of this paper is to identify a research and development plan for sustainable manufacturing focusing on enhancing use-productivity. Core research fields are identified, and finally their technology road maps are developed.

Process and Facility Planning for Mobile Phone Remanufacturing

Abstract Successful remanufacturing of electric and electronic products must meet the challenges of continuously falling prices for new products, short life cycles, disassembly of unfriendly designs and prohibiting costs in high-wage countries. Mobile phones are identified as suitable products for profitable remanufacturing. A generic remanufacturing plan for mobile phones is developed. For the planning of remanufacturing capacities and production programs a linear optimization model is introduced. In order to analyze the performance of the remanufacturing facilities under consideration of uncertainties regarding quantity and conditions of mobile phones, reliability of capacities, processing times, and demand, discrete-event simulation is applied. The simulation model is generated by an algorithm using results from the linear optimization approach. The introduced method allows the continuous adaptation of remanufacturing facilities under quickly changing product, process, and market constraints.

Grouping of used products for cellular recycling systems

Abstract This paper presents an approach to recycling system planning for used products at their end-of-life phase. We focused on the design of cellular recycling systems by using group technology. Current approaches employ design and process attributes for group formation in manufacturing. The recycling process of a product, however, is characterized by uncertainties due to usage influences on the product. We introduce in this paper usage attributes in addition to those mentioned above. In order to consider the usage attributes, fuzzy-set theory is applied. The approach is illustrated by designing a cellular system for the recycling of Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) from used monitors and TV sets.

Economic and environmental characteristics of global cellular telephone remanufacturing

This paper investigates the state-of-the art in remanufacturing of cellular telephones and discusses economic and environmental issues relative to primary manufacturing. Characteristics of developed countries versus lesser developed countries are explicitly considered in the remanufacturing enterprise, and the corresponding impacts of introducing remanufactured cellular telephones to such markets is discussed. It is shown that while remanufacturing as a process carries a much lower environmental burden than primary manufacturing, the remanufacturing enterprise will likely add to the net environmental burden of the telecom industry, rather than reduce it. The extent of this impact depends on situational issues such as transportation and energy grid technology. The value of expanding the remanufacturing enterprise is also discussed in the context of sustainable development.

Analysis of the geometrical features detectability constraints for laser-scanner sensor planning

This paper presents a planning approach for automatic synthesis of the viewpoint locations of a laser scanner that satisfy the detectability constraints of the geometrical features of a given object. Dominant constraints taken into consideration were the laser scanner field of view, depth of view, and the maximum permissible view angle. The approach is task driven and sensor model based. Information is given about the scanned object and its selected features, as well as about the optical characteristics of the sensor. Planning is presented as an optimisation problem where the optimal laser-scanner viewpoint must satisfy all the constraints simultaneously. The approach is demonstrated by scanning a 2D feature, and through planning an experiment in which robotic assembly of a car door is assisted by a laser scanner.

Remanufacturing of flat screen monitors

The remarketing of used flat screen desktop monitors is evolving into a profitable market segment. Demand for used or non-functional monitors is growing especially in Eastern European nations and cannot be covered by End-of-Life (EoL) products, yet. Non-functional phase-out models are often sold to repair shops in Eastern European countries, which is often associated with improper EoL treatment of non-reusable components. To avoid negative environmental impacts caused by today’s practice in demand markets with slack environmental regulations, remanufacturing must start at the returned product’s origin. This paper discusses economical, technological and environmental aspects in remanufacturing of flat screen monitors. Legal recycling requirements for the monitor’s components are described. Applying Method Time Measurement, a disassembly study is conducted for selected monitor models. Based on the results quality classes are defined for reusable components. Remanufacturing challenges in collection, testing, disassembly, and program planning are identified, and a prototypical hybrid disassembly system is presented.