Process planning for product disassembly

A disassembly plan is described by a disassembly bill of materials (DBOM), the sequence of processing steps, the type of disassembly action, the part or fastener worked on each step, the tools used, and the resulting material and part outputs. The disassembly process planning problem (DP3) involves the generation of a feasible plan and its implementation at a disassembly facility. In this paper, we introduce and describe the DP3 model. This model includes a structured format for creating, documenting, and evaluating a disassembly process plan. The resulting plan is intended to be a readily implemented solution and hence can be adopted by any reclamation facility. A key utility of this model is that it provides a format for transmitting product knowledge from the original product manufacturer to the consumer and the end-of-life disassembler, via the disassembly bill of materials (DBOM). The DP3 is a descriptive model, in that it describes a plan that can be readily developed by a manufacturer and efficiently distributed to the disassembly community. It is left to the user though, to determine the sequence of disassembly steps. The model introduces a variety of standards for identifying unfastening actions, destructive actions, and the required tools. The DP3 model also provides an economic evaluation of different plans.