Patent ID: 7313859

Claim:
An optimization method used in an optimization apparatus in an electronic component placement system further including two or more placement apparatuses that place electronic components on a circuit board, the optimization apparatus optimizing a placement order in which the electronic components are placed on the circuit board by the placement apparatuses, the optimization method comprising: a first assignment step of assigning each type of electronic component to one of the placement apparatuses, thereby determining a first assignment for each type of electronic component; a first calculation step of calculating, for each placement apparatus, a first placement time required for the placement apparatus to place all electronic components assigned thereto according to the first assignments on the circuit board; a second assignment step of selecting two placement apparatuses from the placement apparatuses, selecting, for each of the two selected placement apparatuses, one type of electronic component that has been assigned to the placement apparatus, and determining a second assignment by swapping the two selected types of electronic components between the two placement apparatuses; a second calculation step of calculating, for each of the two placement apparatuses, a second placement time required for the placement apparatus to place all electronic components assigned thereto according to the second assignment on the circuit board; and an adoption determination step of determining adoption of one of the first assignment and the second assignment that enables a shortest placement time, by comparing a greatest first placement time and a greatest second placement time from among the first placement times and the second placement times calculated for the two placement apparatuses selected for interchanging by the second assignment unit, wherein each placement apparatus is a multifunction apparatus operable to pick up electronic components with use of a mounting head, move the placement head to a position on a circuit board, and place the picked-up electronic components on the circuit board, and each placement apparatus places, on the circuit board, electronic components in accordance with the one of the first assignment and the second assignment determined to be adopted by the adoption determination step.