Hybrid combinatorial remanufacturing for PCB-based products in reversed supply chain

In the pursuit of carbon neutrality, we propose a resource-efficient production strategy called hybrid combinatorial remanufacturing (HCR) for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). WEEE, structurally defined as PCB-based products, comprises two types of components that rely on printed circuit boards (PCBs) for electrical interconnections. The HCR strategy facilitates case-by-case recovery actions, minimizing overall costs through large-scale module combinations across products or even stock-keeping units (SKUs). The proposed optimization models incorporate product structures of SKUs and quality statuses of components to accurately calculate disposal costs. Leveraging binary code operations, the remanufacturing process is simulated with precision. Numerical experiments reveal that products with high material costs, but low operating costs are ideal candidates for the HCR strategy, aligning with common practices in consumer electronic product remanufacturing. By optimizing the remanufacturing-to-collected-quantity ratio, cost savings of over 10% compared to the Inner-SKU combination and over 30% compared to no combination can be achieved by the Inter-SKU combination. Additionally, we propose a straightforward regression method based on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm-based curve fitting to predict the optimal yield quickly. Overall, the proposed HCR strategy and algorithms contribute to sustainable production for manufacturers and advance carbon neutrality in society.