Sustainable Plant Layout Design for End of Life Vehicle Recycling and Disassembly Industry Based on SLP Method, a Typical Case in China

End of life vehicle (ELV) is a significant renewable resource with enormous economic value and environmental value. New regulation promulgated by the State Council of PRC has been implemented since June 2019, allows main assemblies of ELV can be sold to remanufacture enterprises, which dramatically prompts more enterprises to invest in the recycling industry. According to the technological recovery characteristics of ELV, the system layout design (SLP) method is briefly applied to arrange the plant facility layout of ELV recycling and disassembly enterprise. The relationship between logistics and non-logistics was firstly analyzed, and the operating unit correlation diagram of location and area were presented correspondingly. Then, through further modification and adjustment, the feasible layout scheme was obtained, and the reasonable general layout of the plant area was determined by using the weighted factor method. As a critical functional unit of the factory area, the detailed planning and design of the disassembly and shredding workshop were further presented. A detailed facility layout and logistics route of the disassembly and shredding workshop are finally proposed according to the obtained correlation diagram of the operating unit area based SLP, which has been implemented in a recycling company in Changsha, a typical case in China. Combined with the theoretical techniques of statistics, intelligent algorithms, and logistics analysis under the background of modern green production and sustainable manufacturing, this work can provide a new approach for plant layout design and optimization for ELV recycling and disassembly industry.

Automated summary

The new regulation promotes investment in the recycling industry of end of life vehicles (ELV) and uses the SLP method to design plant layout to maximize economic and environmental value. By analyzing the relationship between logistics and non-logistics, feasible layout schemes are determined and reasonable general layout is established. Detailed planning and design of the disassembly and shredding workshop, along with corresponding facility layout and logistics route proposals, provide a new approach for plant layout design and optimization in the ELV recycling and disassembly industry.