A Lean based process planning for aircraft disassembly

Abstract Each year, 300 aircraft are taken out of service, and because of the development of the aerospace industry, this number is constantly increasing (approximately 12,000 airplanes which are currently in service for different purposes will be removed from service in the next 20 years). Otherwise, the increased demands for recycling, reusing and remanufacturing or refurbishing attract the interest of researchers to improve the aircraft end of life treatment. This article present a process planning with Lean paradigm perspective to improve the recovery of parts and the maintenance of aircraft on which the parts are reused showing the approach for the optimal disassembling and dismantling based solely on the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM).