Ease-Of-Disassembly Evaluation in Design for Recycling

This chapter presents a procedure for evaluating ease-of-disassembly for product recycling. The methodology consists of a spreadsheet-like chart and rating scheme for quantifying disassembly difficulty. Difficulty scores derived from work measurement analysis of standard disassembly tasks provide a means for identifying weaknesses in the design and comparing alternatives. To maximize feedback to the designer, the method captures the sources of difficulty in performing each task. The disassembly evaluation chart is explained and its application is demonstrated in the analysis of a computer keyboard. Derivation of task difficulty scores is described. The current method focuses on manual disassembly of business equipment. However, the same methodology may be applied to robotic disassembly processes and other products.

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