Currently, a significant amount of worldwide research is dedicated to manual or automated disassembly. This field of application has progressed remarkably over the past few years because industry has been forced to consider new technologies for processing electronic waste. This is due to changing environmental legislation, increasing amounts of obsolete appliances, decreasing landfill space and a growing public awareness of environmental problems. These considerations lead to growing research, development and implementation of manual and automated disassembly systems which are able to process a wide range of obsolete electronic appliances. The present paper investigates different prototypes of manual and automated disassembly cells at disassembly companies and research institutes. The approach, technology and architecture of these systems are described. Typical hardware components of flexible disassembly systems are then identified and explained. Furthermore, suggestions are made for modularization and standardization of these components, even if only at a very cursory level. © IMechE 2001.