A balancing method and genetic algorithm for disassembly line balancing

Disassembly activities take place in various recovery operations including remanufacturing, recycling and disposal. The disassembly line is the best choice for automated disassembly of returned products. It is therefore important that the disassembly line be designed and balanced so that it works as efficiently as possible. The disassembly line balancing problem seeks a sequence which: is feasible, minimizes workstations, and ensures similar idle times, as well as other end-of-life specific concerns. However finding the optimal balance is computationally intensive with exhaustive search quickly becoming prohibitively large even for relatively small products. In this paper the problem is mathematically defined and proven NP-complete.