Disassembly Depth as a Determinant of Reassembly Performance in Remanufacturing Systems

Remanufacturing offers the potential to reduce dependency on raw material suppliers and represents an element in the transition toward a sustainable circular economy. A key challenge is the synchronization of disassembly and assembly processes, which is essential for the efficiency and effectiveness of remanufacturing systems. One promising approach is to increase productivity by reducing the disassembly depth through the omission of certain disassembly steps. However, such a reduction must be closely aligned with the requirements of the subsequent assembly process.

This paper investigates the impact of varying disassembly depths on the assembly process. Therefore, the process is presented, and the corresponding workload distributions are systematically analysed. The findings demonstrate that decreasing disassembly depth results in reduced throughput times and enhanced workload flexibility within the process. This flexibility arises from the dynamic use of subassemblies and contributes to workload balancing within the assembly system. A final simulation-based validation highlights these effects and demonstrates the potential role of subassemblies in generating efficient and effective remanufacturing systems.