Cloud-based design for disassembly to create environmentally friendly products

To date, environmental awareness and government regulations have made businesses more responsible for waste disposal. From the product development standpoint, particularly in the design phase, disassembly factors including component disassemblability and recyclable component classification require further investigation. There has, however, been little literature survey focusing on disassemblability enhancement at the product design stage with the disassembly guidelines. In addition, cloud computing enables many applications of Web services and rekindles the interest of providing design services via the Internet. Recent research indicates that design delivered through cloud computing will outperform the traditional IT offers. In this study, the proposed methodology provides an total solution, which is able to: (1) Model the relationship of components and modularity, (2) explore component disassemblability and identify modules, (3) recognize disassembly patterns, (4) provide disassembly guidelines and recyclable component classification to instruct how to disassemble components, and (5) based on a cloud computing architecture, designers exchange and store their design information and knowledge for new sustainable product development. A case in electronic industry is studied and the results show that these companies are brought into conformance with environmental regulations, thereby enhancing product reuse, reduce, recycle, and reducing the disassembly time.