Disassembly sequence planning: Recent developments and future trends

Abstract

Remanufacturing has gained increasing attention due to its economic, environmental and societal benefits as well as its contribution to the sustainability of natural resources. Disassembly is the first and usually the most difficult process in remanufacturing a product. Disassembly sequence planning, which aims to find the optimal disassembly sequence, is required to improve efficiency and reduce cost. There have been many investigations in this field and several disassembly sequence planning methods have been developed. This article reviews the main existing disassembly sequence planning methods from the perspectives of disassembly mode, disassembly modelling and planning method. The characteristics of different methods are analysed and summarised from those perspectives. Future trends in disassembly sequence planning are also discussed to reveal gaps in existing research.