A Systematic Approach to Task Assignment and Production Planning in Disassembly with Employee Skills

An emerging shortage of resources fosters a development for strategies for the circularity of products and resources. Due to the different states of returned end-of-life products, the complexity for employees in disassembly increases. This work aims to provide an approach for an optimal allocation of disassembly tasks to individual employees and therefore enable a basis for planning and control in disassembly. At first, a task description is provided based on which a standardized time for operations is considered. Second, a link is created between the task description and the product state. Depending on the product state the time determined prior can be adjusted. Third, human skills are considered in manufacturing. It is assumed that within a production system there are different employees with different, developing skill sets. Based on specific skills, a task-to-person-is conducted. Using the information gathered, a Digital Twin (DT) that includes the human nature of the employees and their state is created to enable a simulation of tasks and thereby also a learning system for “first-time-seen” products. When facing complex tasks, the cognitive load and human's fatigue are decisive for performance and thereby the time required for execution. Completing these steps, a multistage concept is created that enables a more precise disassembly planning that can be shown in the case study on the example of components of electric vehicles.