The rise in consumption and technological advances has transformed the effective management of end-of-life (EOL) products into a critical sustainability problem. Insufficient handling of EOL items poses a significant risk to resource conservation as well as environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Consequently, sustainable approaches that incorporate economic, social, and environmental factors are essential in the recycling and reuse of EOL products. This paper examined the two-sided disassembly line balancing (TDLB) problem, a critical operational phase in the EOL recycling and reuse process, from a sustainability perspective. Additionally, the proposed novel mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model incorporates a human–robot interaction (HRI) structure that facilitates task execution by humans, robots, or through human–robot collaboration. The model's objective functions were structured in accordance with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach, simultaneously addressing economic, environmental, and social dimensions. A lexicographic optimization method, incorporating the decision-maker's established priorities, was utilized to address the multi-objective problem context. For the solution and computational analysis of the proposed model, two small-scale (8 and 10 tasks) and two medium-scale (22 and 25 tasks) cases found in the literature were adapted to fit the model and used in the analysis. For the analyses, the results of the complete lexicographic solution approach were used to generate solutions for each case across six different priority orders and seven different cycle times for each order. Thus, the model was analyzed by running it in a total of 168 different scenarios. Optimal results were achieved in 99 of these cases. The results indicate that priority ranking is crucial for sustainability performance and that lexicographic optimization provides a feasible solution method in multi-criteria decision contexts with defined priorities.
Citation: Dursun Emre Epcim, Zeynep Yüksel, Ibrahim Miraç Eligüzel, Suleyman Mete. Two-sided disassembly line balancing problems with human–robot interaction: A triple bottom line approach[J]. Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, 2026, 22(10): 5125-5153. doi: 10.3934/jimo.2026177
The rise in consumption and technological advances has transformed the effective management of end-of-life (EOL) products into a critical sustainability problem. Insufficient handling of EOL items poses a significant risk to resource conservation as well as environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Consequently, sustainable approaches that incorporate economic, social, and environmental factors are essential in the recycling and reuse of EOL products. This paper examined the two-sided disassembly line balancing (TDLB) problem, a critical operational phase in the EOL recycling and reuse process, from a sustainability perspective. Additionally, the proposed novel mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model incorporates a human–robot interaction (HRI) structure that facilitates task execution by humans, robots, or through human–robot collaboration. The model's objective functions were structured in accordance with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach, simultaneously addressing economic, environmental, and social dimensions. A lexicographic optimization method, incorporating the decision-maker's established priorities, was utilized to address the multi-objective problem context. For the solution and computational analysis of the proposed model, two small-scale (8 and 10 tasks) and two medium-scale (22 and 25 tasks) cases found in the literature were adapted to fit the model and used in the analysis. For the analyses, the results of the complete lexicographic solution approach were used to generate solutions for each case across six different priority orders and seven different cycle times for each order. Thus, the model was analyzed by running it in a total of 168 different scenarios. Optimal results were achieved in 99 of these cases. The results indicate that priority ranking is crucial for sustainability performance and that lexicographic optimization provides a feasible solution method in multi-criteria decision contexts with defined priorities.
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Dursun Emre Epcim, Zeynep Yüksel, Ibrahim Miraç Eligüzel, Suleyman Mete. Two-sided disassembly line balancing problems with human–robot interaction: A triple bottom line approach[J]. Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, 2026, 22(10): 5125-5153. doi: 10.3934/jimo.2026177
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