Flat Screen Monitor Disassembly and Testing for Remanufacturing

The remarketing of used flat screen desktop monitors is evolving into a profitable market segment. Demand for used or non-functional monitors is growing especially in Eastern European countries and cannot be covered by End-of-Life (EoL) products, yet. Non-functional phase-out models are often sold to repair-shops in Eastern European countries, which is often associated with improper EoL treatment of non-reusable components. To avoid negative environmental impacts caused by today’s practice in demand markets with slack environmental regulations, clean remanufacturing activities must be initiated at the returned product’s origin. Based on market, technology and environment analysis, remanufacturing challenges are described within this paper. A method to analyze and evaluate the suitability of a flat screen monitor regarding disassembly and remanufacturing is presented. Product specific quality classes are derived and serve as a prerequisite for the definition of disassembly, testing and remanufacturing processes. Manual and automated disassembly processes are specified by means of methods time measurement respectively graphical dynamical collision simulation. A prototypical system for hybrid disassembly is presented. Adequate testing methods for electronic equipment are identified and evaluated within the scope of remanufacturing. Signature analysis is identified as an efficient method for circuit board testing. A prototypical, virtual test bed and process for printed circuit board testing is presented.