Multi-criteria decision support system for placement machine selection

The placement machine is usually the most expensive and critical piece of equipment in a surface mount Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly line. Machine characteristics such as placement accuracy and speed could impact process throughputs, yields, and facility productivity. Placement machine selection for surface mount PCB assembly requires the use of multi-criteria decision making principles. The information used to make this decision is both qualitative and quantitative. The relationship between decision variables is often not precise, and even experienced personnel often require substantial effort to arrive at good decisions. Consequently, there is a need for reliable multi-attribute decision support systems for this problem area.