ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the effect of implementing a kanban mechanism in a disassembly line environment. It discusses some of the complications that are inherent in a disassembly line, namely product arrival, demand arrival, inventory fluctuation, and production control mechanisms. The chapter shows how to overcome such complications by implementing a multikanban system (MKS) in the disassembly line setting. It considers the example of a personal computers disassembly line to illustrate the concept of an MKS. Although a disassembly line has many unique characteristics, the multilevel arrival of demand is one of the most crucial characteristics that makes the disassembly line much more complicated than a typical assembly line. The chapter proposes a methodology to overcome the issues by using the pull control principle. The kanban level plays an important role in the multikanban mechanism as it maintains a proper flow of components and subassemblies at a desired level throughout the system.