A particle swarm optimization and case-based reasoning model for sub-disassembly formation in the multi-plant disassembly sequence planning

In a multi-plant collaborative manufacturing system, the disassembly operations for decomposing a product can be distributed at different plants at various locations. In this research a multi-plant disassembly sequence planning model is presented to integrate disassembly sequence planning and plant assignment. First, the components are formed as sub-disassembly modules using a case-based reasoning (CBR) method which analyzes and retrieves the similar cases of sub-disassembly modules from the case base according to the defined similarity indices. Second, each of the sub-disassembly modules is used as a unit to assign to a suitable plant for decomposition. Finally, the sub-disassembly modules and the components are sequenced to arrange a multi-plant disassembly sequence. In this research a particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is applied to generate and evaluate the multi-plant disassembly sequences with an objective of minimizing the total of disassembly operational costs and multi-plant costs. An example product is illustrated and discussed.