Integrated Development of Assembly and Disassembly

Manufacturers are becoming responsible for the complete life cycle of products. As a consequence they have to industrialize the after sales operations and the deproduction of products at the end of their lives. Industrial disassembly is a successful business of many companies but the main focus is the recycling of materials. Higher added value can be reached by industrialization of disassembly for remanufacturing. To activate the value of used components, new technologies for remanufacturing and analysis are necessary. This includes disassembly for repair and reuse of parts and components. One main aspect of this paper is the integration of assembly and disassembly. Objectives, requirements and technical solutions for flexible or hybrid systems and aspects of planning and quality are discussed. The paper gives some perspectives to future research in the field of remanufacturing.