Optimal disassembly scheduling using an evolutionary algorithm based on a tree structure

In recent years, it is required to reduce the amount of waste since there is a growing interest in environmental issues. Hence, it is important to reuse and recycle the used products efficiently. In this paper, we propose a scheduling method by using an evolutionary algorithm in order to find an optimal disassembly schedule including a lot of components of the used products. The relationship between two components in assembly structure can be represented by a tree structure. A whole disassembly process of a product is represented by a combination of tree structures. Each tree structure is exchanged by genetic operations such as crossover and mutation. We carry out a lot of computational experiments though the developed scheduling system. The experimental results demonstrate that the new method is superior to the previous method from the viewpoint of the minimization of the whole disassembly processing times.