Optimal disassembly configurations for single and multiple products (original) (raw)

This paper considers the problem of determining optimal disassembly configurations for single and multiple products, that is, which assemblies and subassemblies to disassemble and which to leave intact. The paper first examines the problem of determining revenue-maximizing disassembly configurations for a single product using the hierarchical product tree representation, and develops a linear time algorithm for its solution. This algorithm is then extended to the case where fixed costs may be associated with disassembly o! some nodes in the product tree. Finally, the problem of meeting a specified demand for recovered components and subassemblies from an available inventory of recovered products, where disassembly capacity is limited and products may have common components, is formulated as an opti-. mization problem. A column-generation algorithm for this problem is presented that is capable of solving reasonably sized problems in a few seconds of CPU time on average.