Integrated Disassembly Line Balancing And Routing Problem

This paper introduces the integrated disassembly line balancing and routing problem (I-DLB-RP). The I-DLB-RP simultaneously optimises two well-known problems. The former one balances the disassembly lines in the disassembly centres, whereas the latter one constructs a routing plan to distribute the usable components, generated by the disassembly process, from disassembly centre to the remanufacturing centres, i.e. customers. With the increasing importance of the disassembly process for tackling with the burden of waste and the number of disassembled products, the distribution planning of usable components released after the disassembly process becomes essential. This paper considers several scenarios: single-component distribution, multi-component distribution, inventory cost, and multi-period conditions. We propose five linear and non-linear mathematical models. Extensive computational experiments conducted on generated realistic benchmark instances. The analyses quantify the benefits of integrating the two problems.