Two exact formulations for disassembly line balancing problems with task precedence diagram construction using an AND/OR graph

TLDR

The growing demand for a cleaner environment has made disassembly line balancing a key issue in reverse manufacturing. The study develops two exact formulations for disassembly line balancing that use an AND/OR graph to enforce task precedence. The formulations use an AND/OR graph as the main input to ensure feasibility of precedence relations among tasks. The AOG can generate traditional task precedence diagrams, yielding considerably better solutions for assembly line balancing and potentially changing prior research approaches. Keywords: disassembly line balancing, assembly line balancing, task precedence diagram, AND/OR graph.

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, the disassembly line balancing problem, which involves determining a line design in which used products are completely disassembled to obtain useable components in a cost-effective manner, is studied. Because of the growing demand for a cleaner environment, this problem has become an important issue in reverse manufacturing. In this study, two exact formulations are developed that utilize an AND/OR Graph (AOG) as the main input to ensure the feasibility of the precedence relations among the tasks. It is also shown that traditional task precedence diagrams can be derived from the AOG of a given product structure. This procedure leads to considerably better solutions of the traditional assembly line balancing problems; it may alter the approach taken by previous researchers in this area. Keywords: Disassembly line balancingassembly line balancingtask precedence diagramAND/OR graph