Economic evaluation of disassembly processes in remanufacturing systems

A model to deal with the disassembly processes in remanufacturing systems is presented with focus being on evaluating their economic consequences. More specifically, the model assists decisions such as to which degree and for the sake of which components should the returned items be disassembled. Consequently, using the economic values of recoverable items, the inventory holding costs of these items are obtained. This information is further used to determine the inventory control policy. To access such economic values, the above average cost approach is compared with the net present value method. The latter is often considered a more 'correct' way in remanufacturing systems from the viewpoint of inventory control. The results from the economic evaluation model are intended to aid companies in systematically evaluating current as well as projected remanufacturing systems.