A bin assignment algorithm for demanufacturing automation

An algorithm is developed to determine disassembly levels and bins to maximize the profit from a used product through balancing the resource invested in disassembly processes, the return realized from them and the environmental impact. The algorithm utilizes the information from a computer aided design (CAD) system and requires minimal user input with the computational complexity of O(n), where n is the number of parts and final subassemblies in a product. It has been successfully used in the development of a demanufacturing stage of a multilifecycle assessment and analysis (MLCA) tool. The benefit of the proposed algorithm is illustrated through an example