Disassembly analysis of consumer products

It is well accepted in industry that major improvements in productivity and manufacturing costs can be achieved through increased emphasis on product design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) [1]. This stems directly from recognition that most of the overall manufacturing costs are determined by decisions made right at the early conceptual design stages of a product. In a similar way, ease of disassembly for service and end-of-life management of products are determined by early design decisions, concerning assembly structures, assembly methods and material choices.